


Did It Hurt When You Fell From... Hell?

by Samyx914



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Christianity mentions, Demon! Keith, Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, First Meeting, Gay Keith (Voltron), M/M, Middle Child! Lance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-05
Updated: 2018-08-30
Packaged: 2018-12-11 13:27:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 23,058
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11715324
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Samyx914/pseuds/Samyx914
Summary: Summer vacation began a week ago, barely giving Lance enough time to adjust to late nights and even later mornings, when his friends persuade him to play a Ouija board. They’d talked about it before, but they had to wait for the perfect time and place. Now, with Lance’s family at a birthday party across town, was their chance.They never expected for it to work or to befriend a demon named Keith.Lance certainly didn't expect to fall for him.





	1. Opening the Board

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Howdy ny'all, Sam is back. :)  
> This work is for the 2017 Voltron Bang. My partner and I have been working so hard on this fic and we hope you all enjoy it and the in-fic art! There will be much more to come! We will be updating whenever we have time. :)

“Guys, this is such a dumb idea. There are a hundred other things we could be doing.” Hunk says as he sits down, crossing his legs on the floor of Lance’s bedroom.

“Relax Hunk. It’s just a game, after all.” Pidge says.

“Yeah. Yeah, okay. Just a game.” Hunk repeats to himself. Lance grins.

“A game that could bring ghosts and shit after us.” He says as Pidge unzips her duffle bag, pulling out a flat box. _Ah, the Ouija board._

“Ah jeez, Lance. Come on, we could… I dunno. Do something useful and productive. Like, start a class project. Or clean your entire house?” Hunk suggests.

“Hunk, it’s summer break. We don’t have any projects.” Lance says, laughing at his friend’s attempt. Pidge sets the box down in the middle of the trio, who are seated in a circle— well, a triangle— on the floor. Her eyes have a gleam to them. Lance can sense that she probably has planned to try and spook her friends. They’d never played a Ouija board together. Hell, Lance has never played one at all. And he doubts Hunk has either. But, when Pidge said that her older brother Matt had one that they could use, he couldn’t resist.

Naturally, Pidge was pumped to try it. And even though Lance doesn’t exactly believe in it, he can’t wait to see his friends’ reactions. Especially if he tries to trick Pidge right back. Pidge removes the lid and pulls out the board and the letter selector. Lance doesn’t remember what it’s called, but he knows how it works. He’s watched YouTubers play this shit before. _You put your fingers on it and ask shit and yadda yadda, stuff happens on its own._

Lance scoots the box out of the way and Pidge flattens out the board. _Hmm. Yep, looks familiar._ Pidge sets the selector on top and claps her hands together, scaring the shit out of Hunk. He gasps and raises a hand to his chest.

“Pidge! Stop scaring me before we even start!” He says. Pidge snickers.

“Sorry. I couldn’t resist.” She apologizes. Lance rolls his eyes and smiles.

“So, what do we do now?” Lance asks. Pidge takes out her phone and clears her throat.

“Okay, so… Matt says we should write out a list of questions to ask and then we can write down the answers as we go.” She reads from her screen.

“Ooh. Alright. I’ll get some paper.”

“Thanks. We could keep it on my phone, but I don’t wanna get hacked by a ghost.” Pidge laughs. Lance scoots back a tad and grabs one of the straps of his backpack, pulling it to him. He unzips the middle compartment and takes out a mostly empty notebook and a mechanical pencil.

“Uh, guys, what’s this?” Hunk asks, looking into the game’s box. Lance turns around and there’s a pad of paper inside. He hadn’t noticed it before.

“Oh, that must be Matt’s log of ghostly shit.” Pidge says. Hunk cautiously pulls the pad out.

“Yeah,” he says, reading something from the book. “The ghost’s name was Takashi. That’s neat.” Hunk says before tossing the book back to its original place. Lance steadies the flimsy notebook on his lap and clears his throat.

“Alright, what are our questions?” Lance asks. He clicks out some pencil lead and presses it to the page.

“Um, name?” Hunk says.

“Yeah, that’s a good first question I’d say.” Pidge says. Lance scribbles down the questions as his friends suggest them. Name? Gender? Age? That’s when the group falls silent.

“Hmm. What about how they died?” Lance asks.

“Maybe. That might be too long to spell though.” Pidge replies.

“Maybe _when_ they died?” Hunk proposes.

“Mhmm.” Lance adds it to his list. “Anything else?”

“Ooh. What about if they have something to tell us?” Pidge offers. Lance hums and writes it down.

“Kay, so we’ve got some questions. What else?” Lance asks, setting the paper down.

“Hmm. Matt said that we should get a candle, because apparently ghosts can talk through flames or something.” Pidge reads from her phone. Lance thinks to himself for a second.

“Okay, I think I can swing that. Give me a second.” Lance stands up and exits his room, heading to the kitchen to hunt for a candle.

He opens a kitchen drawer and rummages around. There are a few long white tapered candles. Lance’s mother had bought them in case of a power outage and Lance is pretty sure that they were on sale, so that’s probably the real reason they’re here. _We’d probably need a stand for these._ Lance pockets a matchbook from the drawer and starts to think if there are any other candles in the house. His parents don’t like keeping candles lit around his younger siblings. ‘It’s too dangerous, they could burn themselves.’

 _Hmm. Oh!_ Lance pads to the living room and pulls a candle off the top of his mom’s bookshelf. He reads the label and squints his eyes. _The fuck does a beach walk smell like?_ He starts back to his room and pops the lid off, taking a whiff. It’s not the worst thing he’s ever smelled, but it’s certainly up there. He refrains from gagging as he reenters his bedroom.

“Lights out?” He asks, flipping the switch. His friends both look up at him and he flicks it back on.

“Woah, what’s that look about?” He points to the lamp on his nightstand. “We can put on the lamp.”

“Uh. Katie asked her brother if there was anything else and he said that we should have a medium.” Hunk says. Pidge clears her throat.

“Yeah, Matt says that we should choose one person to ask all the questions.” She says, glancing to the side.

“Oh. Okay, then.” Lance looks at his shifty friends. “Wait. You’ve chosen me for that?!” He asks, eyes bulging. The two share a look.

“Yeah, congrats, you’re the medium.” Hunk says.

“I cannot believe you guys are making me talk to ghosts alone.” Lance pouts. He knows that they’re planning to fuck with him. _That’s why they sent me to find a candle, so they could discuss their plan. Those assholes._

“Hey. Matt said it had to be someone who’s really charming and could win a spirit over. And if we choose a less confident person, either no spirits will come forward or they’ll take control and haunt us ‘til we die.” Pidge says, moving to her knee to turn on Lance’s lamp. _Hmm. Flattery will get them anywhere. Oh well._

“That’s me, huh?” He grins, turning off the overhead light once again before sitting down.

“Unfortunately, yes. Don’t get us cursed.” Pidge warns.

“I swear, if we get cursed, I’m never forgiving either of you. I don’t care if I live to a hundred.” Hunk says. Lance grins.

“Ah, come on, Hunk. Who’d wanna curse someone as pretty as us?” Lance says, dragging the matches out of his pocket to light the God-awful candle. He pulls a match from the book and strikes it on the box. The wick lights and he blows out the match just before the flame reaches his fingers.

“Where should this go?” He asks. Pidge scrunches her brows.

“Hmmm. Somewhere that we can see it, but far enough away that we won’t accidentally knock it over and burn your house down.” She says. Lance clicks his tongue. He looks a bit before deciding to sit it on his dresser behind him. He scoots it back from the edge.

“That okay?” He asks. Pidge nods.

“Yeah, but you won’t be able to see it with your back to it.”

“It’s fine.” Lance says.

“Okay, then. We’re ready.” Pidge says.

“Actually, you know what? I’ve got to go to the bathroom. You guys go ahead and start though.” Hunk says, starting to stand up.

“Uhuhuh. Nope, nope, nope. You’re not leaving us.” Lance says.

“I really have to go.” Hunk says.

“I don’t believe you.” Pidge says, squinting her eyes.

“Come on, buddy. Nothing’s gonna happen.” Lance reassures his friend. Hunk reluctantly settles back down onto the floor, crossing his legs in front of him.

“Fine.” He sighs. “I don’t like being in front of the mirror though.”

“Why not?” Lance asks.

“Demons can come out of mirrors, Lance! What if I get possessed?”

“Pffft. No way. The devil himself could never influence you. You’re too pure.” Lance smiles. Hunk sort of relaxes and scoots closer to the board.

“Alright, so Lance. You have to be really nice to whoever we get to talk to.” Pidge says.

“Am I ever anything but nice?” Lance asks.

“Just don’t hit on a ghost. That’d be weird.” Hunk laughs.

“Yeah, please.” Pidge sighs.

“No promises.” Lance flashes a grin. His friends simultaneously groan.

“We also have to be nice and be _calm_. Hunk? Can you do that?” Pidge asks. Hunk scoffs.

“I’m not gonna jump up and run away.” He glances to the left. “You guys won’t let me.” He mumbles. Lance smiles.

“I’ll protect you buddy.” Lance says. Pidge centers the wooden piece.

“I’m sure that makes him feel safer.” She snorts. Lance narrows his eyes. “Okay, everyone put your fingers on the planchette.” Pidge says.

“ _That’s_ what it’s called.” Lance says, snapping his fingers. He’d been trying to remember since they opened the box.

“So, first, we have to open the board and welcome some spirits. Only the good ones though.” Pidge says. Lance nods and clears his throat. He looks to Hunk, who looks scarily pale.

“Hunk, do you really not want to play?” Lance asks, concern evident in his voice. _If Hunk’s this upset, maybe we shouldn’t._

“I’m fine.” Hunk says stiffly.

“Are you sure?” Lance presses.

“You can write out the answers as we go if you don’t want to be directly involved with the board.” Pidge says. Hunk sighs a breath of relief.

“Really? Thank God.” He reaches across the board to grab Lance’s notebook and scoots back.

“Ready?” Lance ask in a creepily low voice. His friends nod. He and Pidge begin to move the planchette in a circle to ‘open’ the board.

“Hello spirits. We welcome you.” Lance starts, channeling his inner ghost hunter. “Please come forward if you are here. Only good energies are welcome in this space.” He tries to keep his voice as grave and serious as possible. The room falls silent for a few moments.

“Guys,” Hunk whispers, “the candle is moving.” He points. Lance turns his head to look at the candle, whose flame is flickering a lot for a windless room. He nods and exhales slowly.

“Are there any spirits in this room?” He asks calmly. Everyone gasps as the pointer starts slowly crawling across the board to YES. Lance hadn’t scooted it at all. _It must’ve been Pidge. Gremlin._ He narrows his eyes and looks toward his friend. Something in her eyes is sparkling, whether it’s amusement from tricking everyone or amazement from something supernatural. Lance is bound to find out. _Aha. Let’s see her reaction to this._

“Um. How many spirits are here?” Lance asks calmly. He plans to scoot it to three, or maybe even four, just to freak everyone out.

But he _can’t._

It won’t go. The piece is hell-bent on making its way to 1. _Fucking Pidge._

“Lance, stop moving it.” She says softly, without looking up from the board.

“What? It’s not me.” He says sincerely. Pidge glances up at him.

“Yes it is. Stop it.”

“No really.” Lance says defensively. “I was going to try and move it to four, but you pushed it back.” He says. It lands on one and stops. They take their fingers away.

“I did not. Why would I move it?” She asks.

“I don’t know. Because you’re an evil gremlin?” Lance says, flailing his arms as if it were obvious.

“Okay. Okay. Let’s just all promise that we won’t move it.” Hunk says, partially hiding behind the notebook. They both look towards him, then back at each other and nod.

“I promise.” Lance raises his pinky finger. Pidge smiles and raises hers.

“I promise.” She says. And they twist their fingers together.

“And if you break it, you owe me twenty bucks.” Lance adds as they let go.

“And if _you_ break it, I’ll tell your mom you played a Ouija board.” Pidge says. Lance’s mouth drops open. And his mother’s voice rings out in his mind: _‘If I ever catch you with a devil’s board, it’s not going to be good for you.’_ He shudders.

“Even you aren’t that evil.” Lance says.

“You’ll never know. So you’d better not lie.” Pidge says before placing her fingers back on the board.

“Alright.” Lance returns his fingers to the pointer.

“Okay.” He sighs. “Sorry spirit, my friend and I were arguing.” He apologizes. Just in case they pissed off a demon.

“Lance.” Pidge hisses.

“Are you… a… good spirit?” Lance asks in a much more serious tone, accidentally neglecting their list of preconceived, group-approved questions. The piece starts to move. Oddly enough, it’s about to spell, rather than going to YES or NO.

“Hunk. It’s spelling.” Pidge says, hurriedly. Hunk sits up straighter and cranes his neck to see the board. Pidge and Lance read out each letter as the piece stops.

“D-E-P-E-N-D-S.” Pidge turns to Hunk, the spook-town secretary.

“Did it say depends?” Pidge asks. Hunk nods.

“It did.” He chuckles.

“Holy crap. That’s…” Lance says, at a loss for words.

“We’ve got an edgelord on our hands.” Pidge giggles. Lance joins her in a laugh.

“S-sshh. Stop laughing.” Hunk says, chuckling himself.

“Yeah, yeah. Okay. Okay. Yes.” Lance exhales and places his hands back on the pointer.

“What is your gender?” Lance asks softly. The selector scoots over to M.

“Ooh. A boy ghost? Hi, I’m Lance.” Lance grins, moving his hands away from the board.

“Lance, don’t be weird for fuck’s sake.” Hunk says from behind his notebook.

“Yeah, I second that.” Pidge says.

“Hey, maybe he’s a cute ghost.” Lance smirks. Pidge grabs a pillow from Lance’s bed and thwacks it against his head.

“No. Stop. I’m sorry.” Lance giggles.

“Alright.” He says. “Can we continue now that you’ve beaten me with a pillow?”

“Yeah, okay.” Pidge tosses the pillow back into its original spot on the bed.

“Whew.” Lance stretches out his arms to the board. He waits for Pidge to do the same and starts asking another question.

“What should we call you, spirit? Do you have a name?” It starts to move, a bit slower than before. As if the ghost is apprehensive about sharing his name.

“K.” Pidge reads from the board. And the piece stops moving under their fingertips.

“K? Is that it? That’s not much of a name.” Lance says.

“Lance, you’re going to piss him off.” Pidge whispers harshly. The piece begins to move again.

“It worked.” Lance grins. Pidge sighs.

“E-I-T-H.” The board spells.

“Hi Keith.” Lance smiles.

“Lance, don’t hit on him. God’s sake.” Hunk says from the corner. “It seems like he’s not too happy with you already.” Hunk points to the candle. Lance turns and the flame is… spinning. _Holy shit._ Lance has never seen something like that.

“I didn’t mean to make him angry.” Lance says in self-defense.

“Well, maybe don’t act like a little shit.” Pidge says.

“Yeah, Lance, I’d rather not get cursed. I mean,” Hunk’s gaze shifts down, “holy shit!” Hunk screams and points to the board. Lance looks and the piece is moving on its own in a zigzag across the board! Lance shrieks.

“What the fuck, Pidge?!” He shouts.

“What did I do?” She yells back, shooting backwards away from the board. Lance glares in her direction and jumps to his feet to turn on the light.

“You guys planned this to scare me or something!” Lance accuses.

“No! How the hell would we do that?!” Pidge throws herself onto Lance’s bed.

“I don’t know! You’re both geniuses. You could do it!” He says.

“Guys.” Hunk says.

“Once again, how the hell Lance? It’s impossible!” Pidge argues.

“Guys.” Hunk repeats.

“I don’t know. Magnets. Or Wires. Or something!”

“GUYS!” Hunk shouts.

“What?!” Pidge and Lance turn their heads toward Hunk and yell in unison.

“It stopped.” He says softly. Lance’s eyes settle on the board and sure enough, the piece has stopped on the L. Lance takes a breath and sits back down on his side of the board.

“Sorry for all the yelling. I think I had six strokes.” He says. Pidge goes to sit back down as well.

“Yeah, me too. Sorry.” She takes off her glasses and starts to wipe them on her shirt. Lance looks towards the board again. This time, the piece is hovering over A.

“Uh, guys? Wasn’t it on L a minute ago?” He asks.

“Um yeah, I think. Why?” Hunk asks before realizing that it’s moved.

“Oh my God. It changed.” Hunk says. “That’s worse than when it was going crazy a second ago.”

“For sure.” Lance says. Eerily, the planchette begins to creep along the board once again. The friends stare in perturbed silence.

“Oh jeez.” Hunk says. “I hate this a lot.”

“Yeah, me too, man.” Lance says as the piece briefly pauses on N. Two letters short of Lance’s own name. _Oh my God._

“Holy shit, Lance! It’s spelling your name.” Pidge says.

“No it’s not.” Lance says. “It’s not. It’s not, it’s not, it’s not. Stop it.” Lance starts to panic. He watches it finish his name.

“Oh my God. Keith. Ghost Keith, I’m sorry I fucked with you man.” Lance says. The piece stops momentarily then starting moving again. Pidge takes out her phone.

“What are you doing?” Hunk asks in a low whisper.

“I’m gonna film it.” She says, a beep from her phone signals the start of a video.

“So, we’re playing a Ouija board and it’s spelling things by itself? It started moving all over and now it’s spelling Lance’s name and shit.” She says to the phone. Lance can’t look away from the board. He watches the selector drag across the board. And takes note of each letter it lands on. But he can’t even guess what it’s telling them.

“So far, it’s ‘Lance is R-E-A…” Pidge says.

“I’m what? Oh my God. Is he telling me that I’m going to die?” Lance asks. He covers his eyes and starts rapid-fire praying to himself. _Dear God, please don’t let me die because of a game. I promise I’ll never fight with Pidge again._ He’s about to offer something better, doing the dishes every night until he graduates, when Pidge starts giggling. _Amen._

“What is it? How do I die?” He asks, moving his shaky hand from over his face.

“Pfffft.” Hunk smiles.

“Do I die funny? Are my last words going to be a joke?”

“Our ghost friend likes you.” Pidge says. Lance raises a brow.

“Come again?”

“He said Lance is really cute.” Hunk says. Lance opens his mouth and feels a slight blush fall over his face.

“I am? I mean, fuck, of course I am. But I still think you guys are fucking with me.” Lance says.

“I’m not.” Hunk promises, barely before Lance finishes his sentence. _I trust Hunk, but the gremlin…_ He squints. _She was quick to grab her phone and record it. For my reaction. Hmm._

“And you, Pidge?” Lance asks.

“Cross my tiny, black heart.” She says.

“Then, how’s it doing that?” Lance asks, dropping to the floor to inspect the freaky board. He starts to lift it and selector moves quickly to NO in the corner. Lance shrieks and sets it back down, gently.

“Okay! Ghost Keith, I won’t fuck with your board.” Lance says calmly, holding his hands up in apology. The pointer moves again: “B-E-G-O-O-D.” Lance gulps.

“Oh shit! Ghost Keith knows about Lance’s kinks!” Pidge hoots. Lance’s face goes red.

“I don’t have kinks. That’s fucking weird, Pidge.” Lance stammers.

“Mhmm.” She grins.

“You’re still filming right?” Hunk asks. Pidge nods.

“Yeah. This is too good.” She raises her phone to capture Lance’s face. He still doesn’t get it.

“Ghost-dude, you talk too slow anyway with your… stupid… board talk.”

“Nice one, Lance.” Hunk gives him a smile. _Thank God for Hunk, my hype man._ The planchette moves again: “I-C-A-N-W-R-I-T-E.”

“You can write? What the hell are you talking about, Keith?” Lance asks.

“Oh. Here’s some paper.” Hunk lays Lance’s notebook and pencil on top of the board and backs away.

“Hunk, you can’t seriously expect—” Lance stops when the pencil levitates itself and starts rapidly scribbling across the page. It stops and Pidge leans down to read it.

“He says, ‘if you don’t like my board talk, why did you open the board?’ Oh. And with a slant face.” Pidge laughs.

“Ooh. Sass from a dead guy.” Hunk laughs.

“Shut up. How does he even know about slant faces? Dumb dead old Ghost Keith.” Lance crosses his arms.

“Lance, he could’ve died recently. I mean… Death isn’t just for old people.” Hunk says.

“Come _on_ , no one is named Keith anymore. That’s literally an old man name. Oh my God. A sixty year old dead guy called me cute.” Lance shudders.

“Take what you can get. There aren’t too many young, living people telling you you’re cute.” Pidge says. Lance’s mouth drops and he raises a hand to his chest.

“Well, I never! And in my own _home_!”

“The pencil’s moving again!” Pidge says excitedly, ignoring Lance. Lance rolls his eyes, of course she is. _Why listen to me when there’s a magic board levitating pencils and shit? Mama will actually kill me if she finds out we used a Ouija board in her house. What the hell was I thinking?_

_Right, that it was just a game. Damn it._

“What is he saying?” Lance asks, smushing his hand against his face.

“Hmm… I can’t tell yet.” Hunk says, peering over the board. Hunk’s totally calm compared to before, which is good. But how? Is he calm? Some kind of spirit is talking to them? A couple seconds pass and Pidge snorts.

“He says: ‘I promise I’m not old.’ Smiley face.” She reads. Lance looks over to the paper and sure enough, there’s a sloppily drawn smiley accompanying his statement.

“Yeah, that’s not too convincing and your smiley face is creepy as shit, Ghost Keith.” Lance says. The pencil drops back to the paper and rolls off the notebook. Lance rolls his eyes. _Dramatic old bastard._ Lance sighs.

“Okay, he left, how do we close this thing or whatever?” Lance says. The pencil pops back up and starts moving again.

“Damn it.” Lance groans. “I still don’t believe this one hundred percent.”

“Lance, it’s actually insane. But Pidge is recording it. So, later on, when someone wants to commit us, we have proof.” Hunk says.

“What is wrong with you guys? My mom is going to kill me. Jesus Christ.” The pencil stills momentarily, then keeps moving. Lance rolls his eyes. _Ghost Keith doesn’t like Jesus. Great._ Pidge starts to read again.

“He says, ‘Of course, texting is faster. If you don’t mind my Jitterbug phone. Haha.’ With a smile again. And he says to leave Christ out of this.”

“Haha. Jitterbug, because I said you’re old. I get you.” Lance grumbles, annoyed that Ghost Keith has one-upped his old joke.

“Ghost Keith wants someone’s number.” Hunk says. Both of Lance’s friends look to him.

“What?! No way, huhuh. If mine gets fucked up, there’s no way I can afford a new one.” Lance proclaims. Hell, his phone is already junky. It’s old and slow. And has a few cracks on the screen. And the headphone jack barely works and… it’s garbage. In Lance’s defense, it had belonged to his older brother before he’d been lucky enough to get it as a hand me down.

“Same.” Hunk says.

“Fine, he can have mine.” Pidge says after a minute. Hunk’s mouth drops open and Lance makes a strangled noise in the back of his throat.

“What? Are you serious? Or crazy?” He asks.

“No. Well, a little.” Her friends continue to stare at her.

“What?” She groans. “I want to talk to ghosts, alright? It’s really interesting.”

“Creepy, Pidge. The word is creepy.” Lance points out.

“Yeah, you’re right. Oh well. Ghost Keith, Lance’s phone number is—” Lance stops paying attention. _She is actually insane, giving a ghost her… Wait, my number?!_

“WAIT! You said he could have _your_ number!!” Lance shouts.

“Yeah… But I’m taking the video.” Pidge says, as if it excuses her giving a spirit Lance’s number.

“You’re insane.” Lance says.

“Okay, if I give him _my_ number, _you_ have to film this for me.” Pidge says. _Yeah, let’s weigh my options: Film this crazy shit and have proof that I fucked with a Ouija board. Or. Have a ghost text me… And have proof that I fucked with a Ouija board._

“I don’t want to do either. Mom will kill me, Pidge. _Kill me._ ” Lance says. Pidge sighs.

“If something happens to your phone, I’ll buy you a new one.” Pidge says. _Well, that sweetens the deal._

“Seriously?”

“Yeah. I was going to anyway. Um, for your birthday. I mean, mom’s work, uh, she has this discount thingy. So…” Pidge scratches the back of her head, not knowing for sure what to say.

“Okay, fine. Ghost Keith, my number is 786-462-0992.” Lance says. _Don’t say send nudes. Just don’t. For the love of God._ He manages not to and instead, crosses the carpeting to sit on his bed next to Pidge. Hunk pulls himself off the ground and joins them.

“Say anything yet?” Hunk asks Lance.

“Nope, not yet.” As soon as the words leave his mouth, his phone buzzes. A tired zrrt.

“Oh, Let’s see.” Lance opens the message and all three move to see the screen.

<813-570-0277 8:56> Hello. :)

<813-570-0277 8:56> See, Lance, I *can* text.

“Holy shit.” Lance says, more dumbfounded than before. Then, a thought occurs to him.

“Guys, he probably has a better phone than me.” Lance groans. Hunk chuckles.

“Honey, that’s not hard to do.” Lance would pout, but Hunk’s right.

“I’m gonna put Ghost Keith in my contacts.” Lance says. He holds the number and waits for the options to load.

“Hey, do you guys recognize that area code?” Pidge asks.

“Nope.” Hunk says. Lance checks the number. _Hmmm…_

“Ummm… Tampa?” Lance says uncertainly. His dad’s sister lives there, so he can check. He enters ‘Ghost Keith’ into the blank and saves the contact before going to his aunt’s contact page. The codes match.

“Yep, Tampa.” He confirms.

“Hmm. Weird.” Pidge starts. “I didn’t realize that ghosts even had area codes.”

“Hell, I didn’t know they had phones.” Hunk says. Lance taps out a message.

<Lance 8:59> Did you live in Florida?  
<Ghost Keith 9:02> Yes. I do. Sometimes.  
<Lance 9:03> That’s cool.  
<Ghost Keith 9:03> Yep, it’s pretty fun. You guys here too?

Lance rereads the messages and tilts his head.

“Wait. He said do, not did.” Lance says. Pidge’s eyes widen.

“You’re right.” Pidge scratches her head.

“Woah.” Hunk says.

“That’s weird.” Pidge says. Lance’s mouth makes a straight line.

“What part of this,” he gestures wildly at the room around them, “isn’t weird?” The trio somehow collectively begin to scoot back to rest their backs against the wall. Pidge makes a ‘huh’ sound.

“Yeah, this is all pretty weird.”

<Ghost Keith 9:06> I’m not a ghost.

“He’s not a ghost?” Hunk reads over Lance’s left shoulder.

<Ghost Keith 9:07> Demon. Not dead.

“Wait, like an actual hell demon? Oh, fuck me.” Hunk groans.

<Ghost Keith 9:08> Yeah. Sorry. D:

“It’s fine. But I guess I need to change our contact name.” Lance laughs.

“Nah, I like Ghost Keith better than Demon Keith.” Pidge says. Hunk nods in agreement.

<Ghost Keith 9:08> That’s cool. What’s up?

“What’s up?” Lance says, throwing his hands into the air. His friends lean away from him.

“Why are you having a fit?” Pidge asks.

“We’ve made contact with a supernatural being and the first thing he says is what’s up!” Lance groans. _Why am I the only one who thinks it’s crazy?_

“I mean,” Pidge starts, “if I meet someone new I usually start with asking how they are?”

“Yeah, but I mean—” Lance stops when the phone buzzes again. The group hunches over to read the message.

<Ghost Keith 9:10> Hey, I could ask you weird, personal things. Or try to possess you? But I just wanna talk. You guys seemed cool and I was bored. Excuse me.

“Sorry, Keith. I’m just weirded out man.” Lance says. “It’s not every day I meet a friendly demon who wants to hang.” _And who thought I was cute? Stop thinking about that. Fuck._

<Ghost Keith 9:11> Then, just ask me questions like you did before. :) I’m no oracle. I don’t see the future, so nothing like that.

“Okay then,” Hunk starts, “what’s it like being a demon?”

“Yeah, nice question.” Pidge nods eagerly. They sit and wait for Keith’s response. It comes a couple minutes later.

<Ghost Keith 9:14> Hmm. I mean, I don’t have much to base this on. I can’t really compare it to anything. But it’s fun. I like hanging out on Earth. :) Florida is actually one of my favorite places.

“You can come to Earth?” Lance asks.

<Ghost Keith 9:15> Before someone asks, I was born here. Not the… ‘die and go to hell’ kinda demon.

“Oh.” Lance says. He didn’t think that was possible. He’s not the most religious guy, but he thought Hell was just for bad people.

<Ghost Keith 9:16> Yeah, and I can use a little magic, which I assume most humans lack?

“Yeah, pretty much.” Hunk says. _Magic?_ Lance wonders what kinds of magic Keith is capable of. _Is it rude to ask? Probably._

“How old are you?” Pidge says.

<Ghost Keith 9:18> Erm, seventeen.

“Us too! Well, Lance will be soon.” Hunk says, “but Pidge is younger.” Pidge squints at him.

“What? You are.” He says. Lance laughs at his friends and he hears a car pull into the garage. His heart drops to his stomach. His family is home and he’s got a Ouija board spread out across his bedroom floor. His friends will have to use it to contact him from now on.

He’s dead.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HNNG. How's that for a chapter? Lmao.  
> And the art! It's gorgeous isn't it? Thanks to my artist [@wonkykrystol](http://wonkykrystol.tumblr.com/) for being so supportive and for putting up with me through out this process.
> 
> If you enjoyed this chapter, please feel free to leave a comment! I love interacting with readers and after all the work we've put into this, it'd certainly mean a lot to get feedback. :)
> 
> Also, my tumblr is [here](http://www.koganelovesmcclain.tumblr.com) if you want to come scream with me about season three!


	2. Hello Darkness... Please Don't Hurt Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance counts himself lucky when he manages to hide the Ouija Board from his family. Then later on, someone gets hurt and Lance finds himself outside in the dark. 
> 
> But he's not totally alone. Something is watching him. Maybe even following him. 
> 
> Maybe he isn't so lucky after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys. It's been a while, and I'll explain why in the end notes.  
> I hope you like this chapter. :)  
> Enjoy.

“Oh shit. Keith, gotta go.” Lance hisses. Pidge cocks her head in question.

“They’re home.” Lance whisper-shouts. He tosses his phone at Hunk then he and Pidge dive off the bed to stuff the Ouija board out of sight. Pidge starts to fold up the board to fit it into the box.

“No, just… Under the bed!” Lance says, harried. Pidge nods and they start to cram it all under Lance’s bed. Lance’s heart is going to explode. They get it put away in record time, because seconds later, the front door opens. He and Pidge jump back onto the bed to act as if they’d been there the entire time.

“Lance! _Son_ , we’re home!” Lance hears his mother say.

“Hi Ma!” Lance shouts back. Hunk pokes Lance in the ribs.

“What?” Lance asks.

“The candle.” Hunk says through his teeth. Lance’s life flashes before his eyes as he jumps up again to blow out the candle and slam the lid onto it. He takes it to his bathroom and stashes it in one of the drawers. He realizes that there isn’t anything necessarily suspicious about a candle, but still. He exits the bathroom about the time his little brother runs in.

“Lance! Lance! We had so much fun!” He shouts. Lance laughs and bends down for Max to hug him.

“That’s awesome! What did you do?” Lance asks, with enthusiasm to match his brother’s.

“Well, first! We played in a bounce house and then later we went in the pool. And _then_ , there was a fire!” He shouts, practically bouncing with leftover excitement.

“A fire? Oh no!” Lance says.

“No! Not a bad fire, we made marshmallows with it! It was so fun, but my hands got sticky.”

“Oh, that’s fun.” Lance smiles. Max nods and notices Lance’s friends behind him.

“Hi Hunk!” Hunk smiles and waves his fingers at the boy.

“Max! It’s almost bedtime, honey.” Lance’s mother says from the kitchen.

“But Mom! We _just_ got home.” Max whines before running into the other room to plead the case with their dad, who’s about to carry Lance’s sister to bed. Riding in a car always manages to knock Mariana out.

“Dad? Can I—”

“What did mom say?” Their father cuts him off.

“Darn it.” Max tries to snap his fingers, he can’t yet. Lance smiles.

“Mom, how long do I get?” Lance’s mom looks at the clock hanging above the sink.

“Hmm. Let’s go ten minutes.” She says, smiling.

“Aw man.” Max pouts momentarily, but knows better than to cross mom. He heads upstairs to go to his room. Pidge sighs.

“What is it?” Lance asks.

“Nothing.” She says.

“Pidge?”

“He never says hi to me. He always talks to Hunk, but not me.” She says, looking off to the side. Lance laughs.

“I’m sorry, Pidge.” Lance says sympathetically.

“Well, Mari likes you better, so we’re even.” Hunk says.

“Hi sweetheart,” Lance’s mother comes to the door frame. Hunk’s face freezes, Lance turns back towards his mom.

“Have fun Mama?” Lance asks, grinning. She sighs and gives him a look.

“A dozen six year olds running around, playing and screaming? We had a blast.” She smiles. “But I have work tomorrow and unlike some people in this house, I like sleeping occasionally.” She pushes away from the door with a hand and taps the wall as she walks by it.

“Night Mom.” Lance says.

“Goodnight. Keep it to a low roar, huh?” She says, footsteps dissipating once she reaches the stairs. Lance turns back to his friends and sighs deeply. _Thank God we got that thing out of sight._ He pushes his door closed and goes back to sit with his friends.

“Did he say anything else?” Lance asks Hunk.

“I don’t know. I just sat it down.” Hunk picks up the phone and hands it to Lance. He takes it and crawls back into his bed. He scoots back against the wall between his friends and unlocks his screen.

<Ghost Keith 9:19> Why? What’s going on?  
<Ghost Keith 9:20> D:  
<Ghost Keith 9:21> Don’t put the board up.  
<Ghost Keith 9:21> Guys…  
<Ghost Keith 9:22> Did I say something wrong?  
<Ghost Keith 9:24> Oh never mind.

“Oh shit. We aren’t mad at you, man. My parents came home and well…” Lance trails off.

“Lance’s mom will skin him alive if she finds out that we used a Ouija board.” Pidge says.

“Thank you, Pidge.” Lance says. He hadn’t been entirely sure how to say it.

“No problem.” She says.

<Ghost Keith 9:29> Yeah I got that. Haha. At first I didn’t understand. Then I realized that your family had come in or something. I heard a little kid’s voice at least. And a lady.

“Mama’s really… superstitious. Well, fuck I guess she has a reason to be though.” Lance says.

“Yeah.” Hunk agrees. “Keith, didn’t you say you could use magic?” He asks softly. Pidge and Lance nod. He had said that hadn’t he?

<Ghost Keith 9:30> Yep. :)

“Cool. What kind?” Pidge asks eagerly.

“What kinds of magic are there?” Lance asks. Pidge shrugs.

“Keith will tell us.” She says.

“Yeah. There’s got to be lots of different kinds, Lance. There isn’t just one lump of magic.” Hunk says.

“Oh. If you say so.” Lance says. His phones pings and they all look towards the screen.

<Ghost Keith 9:31> I can do a bit of shapeshifting. My brother is really good at it though.  
<Ghost Keith 9:31> And I’m really good at fire. It’s my thing.

“You can shapeshift?” Pidge says excitedly, bouncing in her place on the bed.

“You have a brother?” Hunk asks.

“What do you mean good at fire?” Lance says, looking at his phone. The dots bouncing on the screen.

<Ghost Keith 9:33> Yeah, a little. I can change my form a tiny bit. It comes in really handy when I go to Earth. I can look sort of human.  
<Ghost Keith 9:33> My brother though. Holy shit, he can change into totally different things. Like, his favorite is a lion. He’s so fucking ridiculous.  
<Ghost Keith 9:33> And Lance, fire is my element. It’s just what I have. I don’t know how to explain it. I can use it. And control it. Um… Huh.

“Do you mean pyrokinesis?” Pidge asks. “Holy shit, that’s so cool.”

<Ghost Keith 9:34> I guess so. Yeah.

“So, you have fire powers and you can change what you look like?” Lance says, tallying their new friend’s abilities and making a mental note of them in his head.

<Ghost Keith 9:35> Yep.  
<Ghost Keith 9:35> To an extent.

“Huh.”

“But your brother doesn’t use fire?” Pidge asks.

<Ghost Keith 9:37> Nope. Takashi’s more of an air and illusions kind of guy. :)

The trio simultaneously gasps. “Wasn’t that the name on the…” Lance starts. Hunk nods with his mouth hanging open.

“That’s so weird.” Pidge says.

<Ghost Keith 9:37> What is it?

“Um. This is Katie’s brother’s board technically and there was a little notepad thingy in the box. And Takashi is on one of the pages.” Lance explains.

<Ghost Keith 9:37> …  
<Ghost Keith 9:38> What is Katie’s brother’s name?

“Matt.” Pidge says. They wait a few moments for a reply and it doesn’t come for a few more minutes.

<Ghost Keith 9:45 > Hmm. He says he doesn’t remember a Matt. What else is written on your notepad thingy?

Pidge drops to the floor to retrieve the notebook, “Lance, if there’s anything gross under here, I’ll kill you.” She says, reaching her arm under the bed.

“Me? Having gross things under my bed? What kind of person do you think I am, Katherine?” Lance says. Pidge pulls out the notepad.

“ _Never_ call me that again.” She says sternly, climbing back into the bed with her friends. She flips open the pad to the page that they need. Her brother’s sloppy scrawl covers the page in no coherent pattern. Lance watches her face scrunch up as she tries to decipher the mess.

“Hmm. Takashi. 20. And I swear to god, that says ‘demonic entity.’” Hunk reads, leaning over Lance slightly to. Pidge glances up at him.

“How the fuck can you read this shit and I can’t?” She asks. Hunk shrugs.

“Katie, that’s literally the same way you write.” He says.

“No. It’s not. Mine is so much better.” She argues. Lance has to agree with Hunk, Pidge’s handwriting is atrocious. All of them have… wonky penmanship. Lance takes pride in his though, it’s the most readable.

“If you say so.” Hunk laughs.

<Ghost Keith 9:49> Did you find it? Sorry. I went to get something.

“Yeah.” Hunk rereads the scrawl and they wait for Keith to reply.

<Ghost Keith 9:50> That’s well… Huh. He’s 21 now. But the demon thing stands.  
<Ghost Keith 9:51> Hmm. Does it say anything else?

Lance peers at the sheet of paper, those are the only things written. “Pidge, maybe the back of the page?” He says unsurely. Pidge flips the page and there are a few lines written. _Scribbled_ , Lance thinks.

“Hunk? Can you… decipher this shit?” Lance asks. He and Pidge look to their friend.

“That says ‘fav color purple.’ And…” He points to another line, “‘one sib’ and… um. Y’all, even I can’t make that one out.” Hunk says, jabbing his finger at the last line of words.

<Ghost Keith 9:52> Huh. That sounds just like Shiro.  
<Ghost Keith 9:52> Hmm… Maybe the Matt wasn’t the one talking?  


“Hmm. Yeah, maybe not?” Pidge says, “Matt’s a total doofus. Wait, I’ll ask him actually.” Pidge pulls out her own phone and texts her brother. They watch her start to type. And Lance laughs when he sees Matt’s contact name.

<Pidge 9:52> Heyyyy. When you used this oujia board last what name did you give? Like who spoke to the board? V important.  
<Matty B Raps 9:53> Err. It was me. I told it my name was Matthew. I mean, that’s my name… Why what’s going on? Is it working? Holy shit! When we tried it, it only answered… like maybe five questions, then it was gone.  
<Pidge 9:53> Yeah… thanks.

Pidge puts her phone back, “He says just Matthew.” Lance looks back to his phone screen.

<Ghost Keith 9:56> Big glasses? Tan hair? Dorky?  
<Ghost Keith 9:56> (Shiro’s words, not mine.)

Pidge snorts, “Yep, that’s Matt.”

<Ghost Keith 9:57> Huh. It’s a small world, I guess.  

-

The group stays up talking with Keith for another half hour, before he has to go.

<Ghost Keith 10:39> Guys, I’ve gotta go. Shiro and I have plans.

“What kind of plans?” Pidge asks. The group collectively makes ‘I dunno’ sounds.

<Ghost Keith 10:40> We’re going to some kind of party? Idk. It sounds shitty. But I have to go.

“Aw. Sorry man.” Lance says, “But we can talk later right?”

<Ghost Keith 10:40> Definitely. :) Goodbye.

The trio choruses ‘goodbyes’ and ‘have funs.’ The phone remains silent and screen darkens. Lance sighs and Pidge yawns.

“What now?” Hunk asks. As if they hadn’t just been talking to someone from another realm.

“We can watch TV? Or something? I dunno. Whatever y’all want.”

“Can we get some food? Like, I haven’t eaten much today. And it just hit me.” Pidge says, stomach audibly grumbling as if to emphasize her statement. Lance nods.

“Yeah. There’s some leftovers out in the kitchen I’m sure.” Lance says. When Mama McClain cooks, there are always leftovers. The woman creates a feast fit for a dozen people, even though it’s just the five of them right now.

“Thank God.” As the group stands up, their bones protest with a series of cracks and pops. A particularly loud one comes from Pidge.

“Holy shit. Pidge that sounded like it hurt.” Lance laughs, opening the door to his room.

“It didn’t feel good.” She says, rubbing her back. Lance leads the troop to the kitchen and pulls open the fridge door. His eyes scan the shelves. _Hmm._ Surprisingly, there aren’t any leftovers inside. _That’s weird. Maybe Mom threw it out?_

“Hey guys, there isn’t anything in here really.” Lance says to his friends.

“Ah man. I’m gonna die.” Pidge groans.

“I never thought you’d die of starvation, Katie.” Hunk says.

“I mean, we can either make something or order something.” Lance says, taking one last look into the fridge. _I could’ve sworn there was some pasta from last night leftover._

_Oh. Wait. I ate that this afternoon._

_Damn._

Lance closes the fridge and turns to his friends, “But with what money?” He asks.

“I’ve got a couple twenties in my bag. Maybe more.” Pidge says. Lance laughs. Pidge always has some money. He doesn’t know how. Lance saves every bit of money he gets and still has nothing.

“We’ll pay you back?” Lance asks. She waves her hand.

“Eh. Doesn’t matter. It’s Matt’s anyways.” She grins. Hunk smiles.

“Great. Food’s on Matt.”

“What should we get?” Lance asks. Living just outside of Miami certainly has its perks. There are several different delivery restaurants pretty close by.

“Pizza’s fine with me.” Pidge says. “I’ll eat anything right now.” She says.

“Guys. I can’t believe this.” Hunk says, staring at the wall. “We just talked to some random stranger demon guy and now we’re talking about getting pizza.” Lance had been waiting for Hunk’s freak out. Here it comes.

“Hunk, buddy. Don’t flip. We’re fine. Right?” Lance says, reopening the fridge to pull out some drinks for his friends.

“Yeah. Ain’t nobody been possessed.” Pidge says.

“How can we be sure though?” Hunk asks nervously. Lance pokes his friend on the arm.

“We’re sure. Okay? Now let’s go order something to eat before we have to deal with a real monster. Katie.” Lance smiles. Pidge rolls her eyes.

“It’s not like I’m gonna eat you, asshole.” Pidge says as the group goes back into Lance’s room.

“I never know. You get scary when you’re hungry.” Hunk says, Lance nodding in agreement.

“Sorry.” She says, pulling her phone from her pocket. “What do you want on the pizza?”

“I don’t care. Just no fish things. Those are gross.” Hunk says.

“Yeah,” Lance agrees, “and let’s have them deliver it like… a block away. If a car pulls up and wakes Mom, she might flip.” He says.

“Alright then. I’m getting everything except anchovies then. Actually, no vegetables. I think.” She stares off into space, trying to decide what she wants. Lance laughs, watching their friend.

“Earth to Pidge.” Hunk says, interrupting her thought.

“Yeah, what?” She turns.

“Why don’t we just get one of the actual menu items? I’m pretty sure it’d be like thirty five bucks if you ordered everything.” Hunk says. Pidge nods, seeing his point.

“Where are we ordering from anyways?” Lance asks, ready to look for some kind of online discount.

“Papa John’s. I have the app. How’s about the works? It’s like eighteen.” She says, reading from her phone.

“You have an app? I didn’t even know they did that.” Lance says in awe.

“Yeah. I order a lot. Like, way too often. But they have like rewards if you order enough times.” Pidge explains. Her parents are away a lot, her father is a scientist with some big corporation and her mother is a professor. She used to be an engineer with a popular electronics outfit, then she began teaching her craft. Lance supposes that’s the reason she can get discounts.

The Holts travel all over to conferences and exhibitions. Sometimes leaving Pidge at home for days at a time. Not that she minds. She gets cool souvenirs and photos without having to leave her house. And she lives on pizza and junk food.

“The works sounds fine.” Hunk says. Pidge clicks her tongue.

“There’s a promotion right now. If we get a large pizza, we can have a free bacon… cheese stick thing?” She reads.

“Never pass up on something free.” Lance says, smiling. That’s one of the golden rules in the McClain house.

“Alright, then we’ll get it. And I’ll send it to…” Pidge trails off, waiting for Lance to answer. He thinks for a moment.

“Um, we can walk down to the end of the street and pay there.” He says. “Just put in the extra section to deliver to the intersection down there and text when they’re close.” Pidge nods and types it in. She confirms the order and drops her phone on the bed.

“$18.97 plus a tip.” She says, “Not too bad. Oh, and it’ll be thirty-five minutes-ish.”

“Hmm. Alright.” Lance says. “What do you guys wanna do while we wait?”

“We could play a normal board game.” Hunk says. “I know you’ve got like, Monopoly and stuff.”

“Yeah, I do.” Lance says, standing.

“I call the dog!” He and Pidge both shout. Hunk sighs.

“No. We’re not doing this again. I refuse to put up with it.”

“Oh. Didn’t you hide the dog last time anyways?” Pidge asks. Hunk nods.

“I did. If we play, I’ll hand out the pawns. And you can’t fight over them. It drives me crazy.” Hunk says. “Promise you won’t?” Lance and Pidge stare each other down, Lance sticks out his pinky finger towards Hunk.

“I promise.” Hunk hooks Lance’s finger with his own and extends the other pinky towards Pidge. She sighs and takes it.

“Fine.” Hunk smiles.

“Good. You can get the game now, Lance.” Hunk says.

“Alright. I’ll be right back.” Lance says, turning for the door. “I get the horse!” He whisper shouts. Pidge’s eyes widen.

“Oh my God.” Hunk groans, like a disappointed mother.

“Oh no you don’t!” She says back, chasing Lance out of the room and to the ‘library,’ a room with shelves built into the walls. On the shelves are anything and everything between their baby books to board games to the entire Twilight Saga. (Lance’s older sister had a fascination with them when they first came out.)

Lance gets there first, he runs into the room without turning on the light and makes his way to the corner of the room. He looks through the games and slides Monopoly out from the middle of the stack. He’s taken the box from the game shelf and has collected the Horse and Rider game piece before Pidge even makes it through the door. _Where the hell is she?_ Lance steps out of the room, into the dark hallway. _It shouldn’t take that fucking long, even with her tiny legs._

“Pidge?” He whispers, he doesn’t see her. _Where did she go? Is this an ambush for the Horse?_ Lance takes the game with him and goes back through the house silently. Through the moonlight coming through the windows in the dining room, he can see his friend. Pidge is sat on the floor a couple feet away. Lance sets down the box and rushes over to her.

“Oh my God. Are you alright?” He whispers quickly.

“What happened?” Hunk appears from the opposite way with his phone’s flashlight. Pidge looks up.

“I was chasing after Lance and I slipped on something and fell. My ankle hurts.” Lance offers her a hand. She takes it and he starts to pull her up to her feet. She sucks air through her teeth. The overhead light flicks on.

“Kids, what’s going on?” Lance’s head snaps up. Mia is on the scene, in the pajamas Lance had given her last Mother’s Day.

“Pidge slipped on something and fell. She says her ankle hurts.” Hunk answers. He tucks his phone back into his pocket. Lance’s mom grimaces.

“See if she can stand. I’ll be right back.” Lance’s mother hurries off towards the pantry where she keeps a first aid kit. Lance and Hunk each give Pidge an arm and pull her up. She sucks air through her teeth again and Hunk pulls out one of the dining room chairs for her. She plops down into it.

“What’d you slip on?” Lance asks, looking around the floor. There’s nothing there for her to slip on or fall over. She looks down.

“I don’t know.” Katie says, rubbing at her ankle. Lance’s mom appears again, with a white bag.

“Here, Katie. Let me see, baby.” Mia kneels down in the floor in front of Lance’s friend and starts feeling her ankle.

“Can you move your toes?” She asks. Pidge wiggles them and Mia sighs in relief.

“Well, it doesn’t feel broken. Probably just a sprain. Why were you two running anyway?” She asks, pulling out a roll of Ace bandaging cloth.

“We weren’t, uh, running, Mom.” Lance tries to lie. She starts to wrap the bandage around Pidge’s foot.

“Don’t you lie to me. I could hear you upstairs. Sounded like a herd of wild horses.” She looks over and sees the board game on the ground by her son’s feet.

“Fighting over the dog piece.” She says, nodding to herself. It’s not a question. The woman knows everything. “That too tight?” She asks Pidge, who shakes her head no.

“Yeah.” Lance answers. “I’m sorry, Mom. I know you’ve got work.”

“This is my second job. Taking care of you kids. Having nurse experience certainly comes in handy.” She smiles and tapes up the bandage.

“There you go, sis. Can I trust you to make an ice pack and keep that elevated?” Mia asks. The group collectively nods.

“Yes, mama. Sorry.” She stands up, yawns, and hugs her son.

“Goodnight. Put that kit away, too.” She points at the first aid bag and starts back towards the staircase.

“Alright, mom. Night.”

“Thanks Mia.” Pidge says.

“You’re welcome.” They watch his mom exit up the stairs and immediately, the fight is back on for the Horse.

“I got it first.” Lance says.

“I got hurt!” Pidge argues. Hunk groans.

“Guys,” they turn to look at him, “don’t make me hide it. Rock, paper, scissors. Right now, winner gets the horse.” Hunk insists. The two make their fists. “Rock. Paper. Scissors. Shoot.” Hunk says.

Each of the two produce flat hands, “Paper? You never choose paper, Lance.” Pidge says.

“Well, neither do you.” Lance sighs.

“Alright, then it’s agreed. No one gets the horse or the dog. Lance, you can have the money bag. And Pidge, you take the wheelbarrow. I’m getting the car.” Hunk assigns their pieces and they don’t argue this time.

“Okay. That was my third choice anyways.” Lance grins.

“Don’t make me change it.” Hunk says, helping Katie out of her chair. Lance nods.

“Yes, sir. I’ll go get the ice pack made, okay?” Lance says, leaving Hunk to help Pidge back to his room. He picks up the board game and the first aid bag and takes them into the kitchen. He sits the game on the island in the center of the room and opens the door to the pantry. He sits the bag in its spot. And grabs a quart-size Ziploc bag.

He takes it with him to the fridge where he opens the freezer door. He unzips the bag and slips his hand into the ice maker in the freezer, pulling out a little at a time to fill the bag partially. Lance runs a bit of tap water into the bag and zips it closed. He takes it and the board game to his room, where Pidge is sat on his bed.

“Here Katie.” Lance says, passing her the bag.                                                                                           

“Thanks Lance.” She takes it and presses it to her injury.

“How does it feel?”

“Not great. But better.” She smiles. Lance starts to open the game, then he notices something missing.

“Where’s Hunk?” Pidge looks up.

“Oh, well you know how your mom says the RICE thing for sprains?”

“Yep.” Lance nods. _Rest. Ice. Compression. Elevation._

“Well we’re missing the E. And we decided that maybe we should get the card table and some chairs and we can play on the table and I can prop my leg on your bed someway.” She explains.

“Oh, alright. I’ll go help him.” Lance says.

“I’ll count out the money so we can play as soon as you guys get back.” Pidge says, pulling the top off the box. Then her phone vibrates. She checks the message and gasps.

“Oh shit, the pizza guy’s almost there. He says five minutes.” She says, shifting to stand. “Oh, damn.” She curses, looking at her busted foot.

“It’s fine, Pidge. I can go get it by myself.” Lance says, slipping his feet into his favorite pair of flip flops.

“No. Don’t go by yourself. Something bad might happen.” Pidge says.

“I doubt I’ll get kidnapped in my own neighborhood. Everyone around knows how annoying I am.” He says, only partly joking. “And I’ll take my phone.” Lance says, patting his short’s pocket to check for it.

“Give me your brother’s money.” Lance says. Pidge sighs.

“Okay, fine. But, you have to be on a call with me while you’re outside. Just in case.” Pidge says.

“Fine, will do.” Lance agrees to her terms and she points to her duffle bag on the ground.

“Can you hand me that?” Lance picks it up and sits it down next to his friend. She pulls out her wallet and produces a twenty.

“I’ve got some fives, too. Is that enough of a tip?” She asks.

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure you’re supposed to do 15%. I think that’s good.” Lance says, taking the bills. Pidge picks her phone back up.

“I’m calling you right now. Pick it up.” She says. Lance laughs and answers his phone before putting it back into his pocket.

“Got it. I’ll be right back.” Lance turns and exits his room. Making his way for the front door, he runs into Hunk carrying their card table.

“Where are you going?” Hunk asks, setting it down for a second.

“Pizza.” Lance says.

“Oh right.” Hunk says, “Wait just a second and I’ll come with you. It took me five minutes to dig this thing out of your storage closet.”

“It’s fine. You guys set up the game and I’ll get the food. Brb.” Lance says, continuing to the front door.

“Alright.” Hunk says. Lance unlocks the door and exits into the humid night air. He breathes it in and closes the door behind him. He makes his way across the porch to the steps and to the sidewalk. He starts toward the intersection where the pizza guy should show up any minute and out of the corner of his eye, he sees another person standing on the sidewalk on the other side of the road.

_That’s creepy._ Lance thinks while walking down the street towards his destination. _That’s not fair though, they probably think I’m creepy, walking around outside at almost midnight._ Lance tries not to let it bother him, the figure he sees across the way. But now, they’re walking at the same pace as Lance. And in the same direction. That, coupled with the darkness, is enough to freak him out.

_They were right, I should’ve let Hunk with me. Damn._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oooh, spooky. Who, or what, is after Lance? Find out in the next chapter. :3
> 
> If you liked this chapter, please, please leave a comment. I appreciate kudos guys, but... It's just not enough. And the lack of feedback is really a big part in why it's taken me so long to update. It's really discouraging, especially with the amount of time it takes to write a chapter. So, take a minute and write a comment, telling what part was your favorite or something. 
> 
> My Tumblr is [here](http://www.koganelovesmcclain.tumblr.com/), if you want to come say hi over there. :)
> 
> [Also, there is no art for this chapter yet. My partner has been really busy with school stuff, but when they have the chance to finish the art, I'll add it in where it goes.]


	3. Goodbye Darkness, Hello Pizza

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance gets inside safely, with only a creepy note to commemorate his spooky experience.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Howdy y'all. It's me, I'm back. :)  
> I know this chapter is sort of short, but if I made it longer, it wouldn't go as well.  
> Enjoy!

Lance decides that it probably isn’t a serial killer and that he’ll just be cautious. He pulls his phone out of his pocket and holds it to his ear, listening to Hunk and Pidge talk.

“I don’t know why the money isn’t in rainbow order, Hunk. I didn’t create it.” Lance laughs. The sound of his friends’ voices grounds him and calms his nerves a bit.

“Oh, hey Lance.” She says. “Pizza person there yet?”

“No, _I’m_ not even there yet.” He says, he looks over again and watches the person as he walks forward.

“There’s this person across the road walking down the sidewalk. It’s probably nothing, but they’re really creeping me out.” Lance says in a whisper. His friends stop joking around, the other end falls completely silent. He can picture his friends’ faces, looking at each other in confusion. After an eternity, Hunk clears his throat.

“Let me find my shoes and I’ll be out in two seconds to walk with you.” Hunk says calmly, probably knowing that if he expresses any fear, it’ll make Lance even more nervous. Hunk’s amazing in that way, he can do anything for his friends. Even if he’s frightened himself.

“You don’t have to. It’s fine. I don’t know. It’s just weird, right? They were standing there when I came out and then they started walking the same way as me?” Lance says, tears pricking at the corners of his eyes and panic returning to his voice.

“Are they still there?” Pidge asks. Lance looks quickly over his shoulder to the spot where the other person had been, no one’s there. Just an empty sidewalk.

“No.” Lance says. _They could be anywhere now. Oh Jesus._

“Okay, good.” Pidge says softly. “You’re okay, right?”

“Yeah, it just freaked me out and now that I can’t see them, I’m even more scared.” Lance admits, with a nervous laugh. _I’ll just keep walking, there’s a streetlight down there. It’s fine. You’re fine._

“Oh,” Pidge says, “they probably just went inside their house or something.” Lance starts to agree, but then he hears heavy footsteps approaching from behind.

“Someone’s coming.” He whispers into his phone. Pidge goes quiet. _Holy shit._ He freezes. _What do I do? Oh God. Elbows. Elbows can hurt people. Right? Maybe?_ A hand clutches at his right shoulder and Lance is ready to fucking scream. Or fight. Or piss his pants. He’s not sure.

“Hey, buddy.” Lance breathes a huge sigh of relief and grabs his chest with his empty hand. _Thank you, God. I knew you were up there._ Lance turns to face Hunk.

 “Oh my God. I thought you were a murderer.” Lance says, calming himself down in the presence of his best friend. Hunk’s mouth pops open and he waves his arms frantically out in front of him.

“Oh crap. I’m so sorry. I didn’t even think about it. I didn’t mean to freak you out. Are you okay?” Lance throws his arm around his friend and pulls him in to a side hug. Hunk reciprocates with a squeeze of his own. Lance pulls away. He hears Pidge sigh on the other end.

“Now that you’re both out there, I’m gonna hang up,” she says. “Be careful.”

“We will.” Hunk answers. The call ends and Lance drops his phone back into his pocket. He and Hunk start towards their goal, the end of the street.

“I was seriously creeped out for a minute.” Lance says.

 “I don’t blame you. It scared Pidge and me just hearing about it. Did you see them again?” Hunk asks. Lance shakes his head.

“Nope.” He says, “I think I hear a car though.”

“Me too.” The two hurry to the intersection. A car passes them, but it’s not the pizza. They stand under the street light, talking about how they’re going to kick Pidge’s butt at Monopoly. A couple minutes pass and then, a car with a Papa John’s marker stuck to the roof comes by. It stops just short of turning. The driver rolls down their window and leans towards them.

“Are y’all the works and bacon cheese bread?” She asks.

“Yes, ma’am.” Lance says. She smiles.

“Good. This is my last stop of the night.” She pats the boxes on her passenger seat. Lance hands her the twenty five dollars Pidge had given him and she lifts the food out through the window. Lance takes the boxes.

“Hey, it was only nineteen.” She says, counting the money.

“The rest is for you, have a nice night.” Lance tells her. Her tired eyes light up and she smiles happily.

“Oh! Thanks so much guys!” She slips the money into what Lance guesses is her version of a tip jar, the empty cup in her cup holder.

“Thank _you_.” Hunk says. She smiles and waves before rolling her window back up and pulling away.

“She was pretty.” Hunk says as they start back toward Lance’s home.

“Yeah.”

-

When they get back to Lance’s yard, there seems to be a piece of paper stuck on the door that Lance hadn’t noticed when he came out.

“What’s that on the door?” Lance asks. Hunk shrugs and makes his ‘I don’t know’ sound. Lance guesses it’s something from the mail. Sometimes, when no one answers the door they leave notes about packages. They climb the steps to the porch. And upon closer inspection, it’s a Post-It note with the word ‘Hi’ and a smiley face drawn on it.

“Oh my God.” Lance says.

“What?” Hunk asks. Lance turns to his friend and points to the note.

“That creepy guy. He must’ve put this here. Oh my God.” Lance says, starting to re-freak out. Hunk’s eyes widen.

“Holy shit.” Hunk squeaks. He pulls the sticky note down and they both hurry inside. Lance turns the locks on the door and latches the chain once they’re inside. And they scurry back to his room. When they get there, Pidge has the game all set up. There are two chairs around the table and a plate at each person’s spot, Hunk’s doing apparently. Pidge is sitting on the bed with her left leg propped up on a pile of stuff at the foot of the bed.

“Hey guys. That pizza smells great.” She puts her phone down and looks up at her friends. She raises a brow. “What’s wrong you guys? Was it a murderer? What is it?” Lance shuts his bedroom door and sets the pizzas down on the edge of the table.

“Guys, you’re freaking me out? What happened?” Lance and Hunk look at each other, trying to decide who should tell her.

“Well, nothing really. We just went and paid for the pizza and the lady gave us the food and drove off. And then we came back and _this_ was on the door!” Hunk says, thrusting the piece of paper at Katie. It falls into her lap and she picks up it.

“What the fuck?” She says looking at the creepily drawn face.

“Isn’t that creepy?” Lance asks.

“Um, yes. Totally.” Pidge says, throwing the paper away from her. “Wait, do you think that person you saw put it there?” She asks. Lance nods.

“You locked the door, right?” Pidge asks.

“Yeah, triple locked it.” Lance says, sitting down in the chair in front of his dresser. Hunk takes the other one, across from Pidge.

“That’s so weird.” Pidge says. “Like, where the hell did that come from?”

“I don’t know,” Hunk says, “and I don’t really wanna find out what actual crazy stalker person put that on the door.”

“Maybe it was already there?” Pidge wonders aloud. Lance and Hunk give her a look.

“Okay, but why?” Lance asks.

“Yeah. Who would do that?” Hunk asks, making a face.

“I mean, I dunno. But it’s not really that ominous is it? It’s just a smiley face. I don’t think a serial killer is after you. It’s just weird.” Pidge says, being the group’s voice of reason for once. Usually, it’s Hunk, but his brain is still stuck on ‘what the fuck, demons are real?’

“Yeah. Okay. You’re right, no reason for me to freak out, again.” Lance says, still not totally convinced. But worrying has never accomplished anything. So he goes to open the pizza box, then he stops himself.

“Actually, I’m gonna go wash my hands, after that… mystery note.” He says, standing. Pidge raises an eyebrow. “You know, just in case the bad guy laced it with poison or forgot to wash his hands.”

 “Yeah, we all should probably.” Hunk says. Pidge nods in agreement, moving to sort of stand. They form a short line into Lance’s bathroom and wash their hands before coming back to the table. Pidge gets re-situated, setting her foot carefully back on its nest.

“Do you guys want something to drink?” Lance asks, he’ll definitely want something. _Probably some juice_ , he thinks to himself.

“Please.” Hunk says, taking his seat. He looks towards Pidge, who nods.

“Kay, BRB.” He replies, opening his bedroom door, then stepping into the darkness outside. _Shit, this is creepy._ He gets to the kitchen and flicks on the overhead light. _That’s better._ He pulls open the fridge and checks to see what drinks they have. _Hmm… A single Capri Sun, a couple cans of root beer, and some bottled water._ He walks back to his room and reports the options to his friends.

“Root beer or water. There’s a Capri Sun too, but I’ve already claimed it.” Lance says.

“Water, please.” Hunk says.

“And root beer for me, uh, please.”

“Alright,” Lance returns to the kitchen and grabs the three drinks, shutting the fridge door. Then switching off the light before he scurries back into his room, closing the door quickly. He sets the drinks on the table and sits down.

“Thanks, man.” Hunk says, twisting the top off his water. Pidge pops the tab on her soda can.

“Cracking open a cold one,” she says, voice dropping to a whisper, “with the boys.”

“Oh my God.” Hunk laughs.

“We’re your boys?” Lance asks.

“Yep.” Pidge says, taking a long sip. Lance rips the plastic off the yellow straw and stabs it into the drink pouch.

“Okay. Let’s try this bacon thing.” Lance says, he opens the box and everyone takes a piece. They clunk them all together and say cheers.

Lance brings the breadstick up to his mouth and takes a bite. It’s warm and cheesy and while it’s not the best thing he’s ever had, it’s pretty good. _Definitely good for the price— free._ Lance sets the remaining piece of cheese stick down on his plate and waits for his friends’ commentary.

“’s good.” Pidge says, still chewing.

“Mmhm.” Lance shrugs. Hunk nods.

“Okay, so who’s going first?” Pidge asks.

“Highest dice roll?” Hunk suggests. Pidge nods snatches the dice, then she rolls them: a nine. She hands them to Lance, who always makes a big show of rolling dice: shaking them in his hand, blowing on them, etc. This time he shakes them up.

“Come on, something good.” Lance says, tossing them at the board. A seven. Pidge snorts.

“Way to go.” She says, taking a slice of pizza and placing it on her plate.

“If we were in Vegas, you’d be impressed.” Lance pouts, pushing the dice to Hunk. He picks them up and shoots them one at a time. The first, a four. The second, another four.

“Ooh. Me first!” Pidge says.

“Damn.” Lance says, standing to pull a piece of pizza from the box. He plops back into the chair, folding the slice in half to take a bite.

“Wait!” Hunk says. Lance pulls the pizza away from his mouth slowly, eyes trained on his friend.

“What?” He asks, confused.

“That has mushrooms _and_ olives, Lance.” Hunk says.

“Oh,” Lance says, “gross. Thanks man.”

“Welcome.” Hunk says, smiling. Lance sets the pizza down and start picking things off it, putting the mushrooms on Hunk’s plate and the olives on Pidge’s.

“Thank you.” Pidge says, plucking one of the disgusting black rings off her plate and popping it into her mouth. She grabs up the dice and shakes them, rolling a seven. She moves her piece to a Chance space and draws a card.

“Get out of jail free. Nice.” She says, placing it with her fake money. She scoots the dice to Lance. He rolls and lands on Oriental Ave.

“Who’s banking?” Lance asks, taking a hundred from his stack of money.

“I’ll do it.” Pidge says, taking the bill from him. She slides it into the ‘cash drawer’ and hands him the little card that goes with his space.

“Thank you.” Lance sets it with his stuff and takes a bite of his pizza. It’s heaven.

“Mmm. Fuck me _up_ , Papa John.” Lance says after swallowing his food. Hunk laughs and rolls his dice.

“Gross, Lance.” Pidge says, nibbling at her slice.

“This is so good though.” Lance says.

“Papa John. A sugar daddy but with free pizza?” Hunk wonders aloud.

“Holy shit. What does Papa John look like?” Pidge says, taking her second turn. She buys a property and hands the dice to Lance.

“Oh my God. You said I was gross? He’s literally like, sixty years old.” Lance laughs, as he tosses them.

“Hey, you never know. You said the same thing about Ghost Keith.” Pidge says. Lance stops laughing.

“I wonder what _he_ looks like.” Lance says. _Is he taller than me? Does he have demon horns? Is he scary? Or cute? Maybe he has huge, pointy teeth. Or soft brown eyes._ Lance has no idea how to picture their new friend. He’s never met anyone who wasn’t human before. And while that’s sort of obvious, he’d always hoped the first non-human he’d come in contact with would be a mermaid.

 “Ooh. Lance has a crush on a demonnn.” Pidge says in a teasing tone.

 “Shut up, you gremlin. I don’t have any idea what he looks like. He could have six eyes or something.” Lance says, munching his slice of pizza. Pidge shrugs.

“I doubt that. But he probably has horns.” Hunk says, moving Lance’s pawn across the board for him.

“Do you think?” Lance asks, taking a sip from his Capri Sun pouch.

“Probably. That’s a demon thing, right?” Hunk asks, taking his own turn. “I hope you didn’t wanna buy the railroad.”

“Nah.” Lance says, stuffing a bite of pizza into his mouth.

“I think Keith has scaly skin.” Pidge says. Hunk and Lance look to each other, then to their friend.

“Like a snake?” Hunk asks.

“Yeah. Wouldn’t that be cool?” She asks. Lance thinks about it and honestly, no. It wouldn’t be cool.

“He’s not a reptilian.” Lance says.

“You don’t know that.” Pidge says smiling.

“True. But, he doesn’t have creepy snake skin.” Lance argues.

“Okay, fine. What do you think he looks like then?”

“I don’t know. Hmm, what do demons look like?” Lance thinks. “Well, when I think demons, I think of like, tattered black wings. Or horns like Hunk said. And I read a manga once where they had tails.”

“Huh. I guess he might have wings. I stand by my snake skin idea though.” Pidge says.

“Guys, it doesn’t matter that much. It’s not like we’ll ever know for sure. There’s no way to know if we’ll ever talk to him again anyway. Will you take your turn, Pidge?” Hunk says.

“Oh, is it my turn?” She asks, reaching for the dice. Lance watches her roll the dice and decides that they’ll definitely talk to Keith again. Even if it’s just Lance on this end. He also wants to know what the other looks like, partially so he can prove to Pidge that he isn’t a scaly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave a comment if you liked this longer chapter. And maybe, if I get some good comments, I'll update faster next time. :')
> 
> (I'm not promising anything.)
> 
> ((Please, do NOT leave comments saying: UPDATE NOW. Or something. It stresses me out very much and makes me procrastinate even more.)
> 
> Also! I have a brand new fic, it's a pretty long one shot, you can find it [here](https://archiveofourown.org/works/13152495).
> 
> It's a nice Christmassy klance first meeting fic with plenty of fluff. :) Please go check it out!
> 
> And have a happy new year!


	4. Baby Sitter's Club Meeting #321

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance wakes to find his house infested with... his siblings. He and his friends (kind of) babysit the twins and talk about demons when they aren't listening.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back. Kinda. I just want to say that I'm sorry that I take so long to update. I mean, it's not really a big deal. I'm not getting paid for this. :')  
> But I still feel kind of crappy about it. I'm trying to get my act together and update more frequently.
> 
> Sometimes when I try to write, but brain just ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯.  
> Lmao. While writing this, I learned that I know nothing about children. :') To be fair, I haven't been around them since I was one.

Lance wakes up and instantly, his back objects to movement. _Probably because I’m sleeping on the floor. How’d I fall asleep like this anyway?_ He remembers finishing their game of Monopoly. Finishing a game for this trio generally means they get bored after all the properties are claimed. They usually end up counting their deeds and money. And whoever has the most left wins. This time it was Hunk.

_Then we… watched YouTube videos on my laptop. And I dropped my phone on the floor and went to get it and…_ That must be how he ended up sleeping in a ball on the ground, using his mostly empty schoolbag as a lumpy pillow and his comforter draped over him. He blinks his eyes and yawns, rolling onto his other side facing away from his dresser. The card table and chairs have been put away and Pidge is snoring softly on Lance’s bed. _Little gremlin. What’s on her foot? Oh, duh. She fell. Hunk?_

Lance sits up slowly. Hunk is nowhere to be seen. _Huh._ Lance can hear something in the other room. _A TV? Yeah, a TV. What time is it anyway?_ Lance feels the ground around him until he produces his cell phone. He turns on the screen, which informs him that it is, in fact 1:43PM. And his phone is on thirty percent.

“Damn.” Lance yawns and blinks a couple times. He can’t remember the last time he slept this late. He’s not a particularly early riser, but he usually rises before noon. Even if ‘before noon’ means 11:59. _But we did stay up pretty late._ Lance drags himself to his feet and goes to pee. As soon as he wakes up, every day he goes to pee. It’s part of his routine.

_Routine. Damn, I didn’t do my mask last night._ Lance rolls his eyes at himself when he sees his reflection in the mirror. He exits the bathroom a few minutes later and Pidge has completely changed her position. Now she’s facing the wall, with an arm over her forehead. And she’s upside down. Her feet are on Lance’s pillows and her head mushed into a ball of blankets at the end of the bed. _Had she been that way earlier?_ Lance shrugs and grabs his phone cord. He’ll plug it up in the other room.

“Hunk?” Lance says, wondering where his friend could be.

“Kitchen.” is the reply. Lance nods and closes his bedroom door, quietly. Pidge is a real bear in the morning, or whenever she wakes up. And Lance will _not_ be the one to wake her. Instead of accidentally causing his own demise, he heads towards the kitchen. Hunk is stirring something with a whisk and Lance’s brother is sitting at the island.

“Hey guys.” Lance says slowly, confused. He’s pretty sure his siblings were supposed to be with his aunt today. His little brother looks up from his coloring page.

“Good _afternoon_ , Lance.” he says.

“What’s up?” Lance asks, with a slight brow raise to Hunk, who shrugs and smiles.

“Well, Tía Lili is sick. So we get to hang out with you and your friends,” he says, grinning. Lance nods.

“Okay, did you need anything?” Lance asks, his brother shakes his head. Hunk seems to have supplied him with a glass of orange juice, so cool. “I’m going to go check on Mariana.” Lance says, headed towards the stairs. He stops to plug his phone up in the living room. He gets to the staircase and groans, grabbing the rail to physically pull himself up the steps.

-

Once he makes it to the landing, he goes to his sister’s room. Her door is still partially closed. He pushes it open and walks inside. Mari seems to be awake, but when she sees her brother, she lays down quickly. No one would buy her sleeping act, because she’s giggling. Lance laughs to himself.

“If Mari’s still asleep, then I guess I’ll eat her breakfast. Hunk’s making her favorite scrambled eggs. Oh well.” he says, starting to turn back towards the door. Her head flies up.

“Hunk’s still here? Is Pidge still here too?” she asks, standing up in her bed.

“Yeah, they’re both here.” Lance says. She gasps.

“They can’t see me like this!” she says dramatically.

“Why not?” Lance asks. She sighs and gestures to her blue Doc McStuffins nightgown.

“Because! I am not a SLOB.” she says, jumping off her bed. She lands on her rug and yanks her closet open. Lance thanks his lucky stars that she didn’t slip.

“Do you need help?” Lance asks.

“With fashion?” Mari says, offended that Lance would ask.

“No, I mean with reaching.” Lance says. After all, her clothes are hung on hangers at least a foot above her head.

“Oh, yeah.” she says. Lance clicks his tongue and goes over to help.

“Which one?” he holds his hand up next to the row of hangers.

“Is it cold?” she asks, very seriously. _In the middle of summer? In Florida?_

“No, it’s not cold.” Lance says, trying not to laugh.

“Is it hot?” Lance nods.

“Yeah, outside it is. In here, no.”

“Okay, that one. And these.” she points to a purple dress and a then to a pair of lime green shorts.

“Why the shorts?” Lance asks, handing her selection down. She takes the hangers and tosses the garments onto her bed.

“For extra color.” she says, then her voice drops to a whisper. “And so nobody’ll see my butt.”

“Oh. That makes sense. Do you want me to help?”

“No. I can do it. Go make sure Max doesn’t eat my eggs!” she commands. Lance laughs and exits her room, standing out in the hall to wait for her. She comes out a couple minutes later, clothes on and her hair pulled up in a sloppy ponytail.

“My lady.” Lance smiles and holds out his hand to his sister. She grins and takes it. “No crown today?”

She shakes her head, “not with this dress.”

“Oh alright.” Lance smiles.

“Can I slide down?” Mari asks once they reach the stairs.

“Don’t tell Mom.” Lance says, zipping up his mouth and throwing away the key. She claps her hands together and tries to throw her leg over the railing. But she’s too small.

“Need help?” she nods. Lance picks her up from under her arms and starts to set her down. “Frontwards or backwards?”

“Backwards.” he places his sister gently on the banister and she grips it tightly.

“You have to catch me.” she says.

“Okay. Remember you have to lean in towards this side, just in case you start to slip. When I count to three, then you can let go.” Lance says, making his way down. He looks up and starts his countdown, giving her time to chicken out if she needs to. Lance knows that the first time his brother let him slide down the rail, he was so afraid he’d fall off. Mari has done this at least once before, but you never know.

“One.”

“Two.”

“Three. Go!” Lance says. She lets go and squeals as gravity pulls her to the bottom on the stairs. Lance grabs her just before she falls from the rail, spins her around, and sets her on her feet. She hugs his legs and runs off towards the kitchen.

“Hunk!” Lance smiles and follows after her. She climbs up into a stool beside her twin and Hunk turns to acknowledge her.

“Oh, the princess is up. No one told me.” Hunk smiles. She laughs and takes the coloring book, selecting a page.

“Hunk, do I smell bacon?” Lance asks. Hunk scrunches his brows and shakes his head.

“No.” he says, probably wondering how the smell of scrambled eggs could in any way resemble bacon.

“ _Could_ I smell bacon?” Lance asks, with puppy dog eyes. Hunk sighs.

“Yeah, give me a minute. I’ll have to dig some out. If there is any.”

“I’ll find it.” Lance goes to the freezer and starts plucking around. _Pizza rolls, some ham, a bottle of water?_ He shakes his head and puts it back. _Frozen peas? Does anyone here even like these?_ He rummages through the last shelf and pulls out a package of bacon.

“Voila.” Lance slices the package open and tosses it into the microwave to defrost.

“Thank you.” Hunk says.

“Mari, do you need juice?” Lance asks.

“Milk.” she says, not looking up.

“Alright.” Lance pours her a glass and hands it to her. Then he goes to the dishwasher, they’ve got to eat off of something. He pulls out a couple plastic Mickey Mouse plates and some ‘real’ plates for him and his friends. Since breakfast will be a while yet, he decides to empty the dishwasher and put everything away. His brother and sister are bickering over which Crayola color is closest to the color of real grass. The microwave dings and Hunk starts the bacon.

When he’s through, Lance goes to his room and opens the door enough to stick his head in. “Pidge, breakfast. Soon.”

She groans and rolls over. Lance shuts the door back. Lance goes to the living room to change the channel, it’s on Cartoon Network he thinks? On one of their stupid kids’ shows. He picks up the remote and opens the guide. He scrolls down until the name of some Disney Channel show comes up and it’s not the worst one on, so he switches to it. He reaches down and picks up his phone from an end table.

His phone takes a second to unlock, then he checks his notifications. A couple new followers on Instagram and a message from his mom about the kids.

<Mom 7:40> Lili isn’t feeling well, so the kids are staying home. Sorry, but I know your friends won’t mind.  
<Lance 2:01> It’s alright Mama.  
<Mom 2:02> Are you just now getting up?  
<Lance 2:02> No, of course not. I’ve been up since 1:45.  
<Mom 2:03> So, twenty minutes? Are the kids alright?  
<Lance 2:03> Yes. They’re fine. Hunk is making some food.  
<Mom 2:03> Alright. Love you.  
<Lance 2:03> Love you too Mama, have a good day at work.

Lance sets his phone down and returns to the kitchen, Hunk’s dishing out some eggs onto the plates and his siblings are still coloring. Pidge stumbles out of Lance’s bedroom with a groan. Her hair is stuck up in places where it definitely shouldn’t be and she looks ready to kill.

“Hi Pidge!” Mari says excitedly. Pidge jumps at the sudden noise, but manages to pull off a grimace off as a smile.

“Hey.” Pidge plops into the last barstool next to her. And points at the fridge. Lance rolls his eyes and grabs her a Capri Sun. Apparently, someone had restocked the fridge since last night.

“Thanks.” She jabs the straw through the pouch and takes a long sip.

“Pidge. Your foot is hurt? What happened?” Max says, looking down at her bandaged leg. Mari gasps when she sees it and pats Pidge’s leg.

“I fell last night.” Pidge says simply, still not fully awake. She blinks her eyes hard and yawns.

“Does it hurt?” Mari asks.

“No, it’s fine now. Your mom fixed it for me.” Pidge smiles. Hunk slides plates across the island to Lance’s siblings.

“There you go kids.” He smiles, flicking off the burners.

“Do you wanna eat in here or in front of the TV?” Lance asks.

“TV.” they say simultaneously. Lance picks up their plates and carries them to the coffee table. They follow him and slide into the floor.

“Here.” Hunk says. _He’s trying to make Pidge eat eggs._ Lance rejoins his friends at the island.

“No, just the bacon.” Pidge says. Hunk pushes her plate towards her. “You’re not my mom, Hunk.”

“You need eggs.” he says stubbornly. She sighs and accepts the egg-ridden plate. Lance swoops in and takes his plate.

“I’ll be right back.” Hunk says. “I left my phone in your room.” As soon as he goes, Pidge spoons her eggs on to Lance’s plate and scurries towards the living room. Hunk comes back through his door.

“So, what time did he wake you up?” Lance asks.

“Eh, noonish.” Hunk says, taking his own dish.

“Sorry man. I didn’t know they were gonna be here.” he says in a soft voice.

“It’s fine. I like having them around. They’re good kids. A lot of kids their age are goblins.” Hunk says. Lance laughs.

“Yeah, not everyone has my mom.”

“That’s true. So much respect. She raised us,” he points to Pidge, “to an extent. And your siblings.” Hunk squints at Pidge and then at Lance.

“She gave you her eggs, didn’t she?” he asks, already knowing that she had. Lance nods.

“Lance! Can we go in the pool later?” Max shouts.

“You know you have to wait after you eat.” Lance says.

“I know. Can we?”

“Sure.” Lance smiles. “Do you guys have swim stuff in my drawer?” Lance asks. The last drawer of his dresser is exclusively used for his friends’ things.

“Erm, I’m not sure. Probably.” Hunk says.

“I don’t know. I brought some with me though.” Pidge says.

“Cool.” Lance says. “Sunscreen?”

“Yep. Don’t want to die.” Pidge says.

“You’ll die if you don’t use sunscreen?” Mari asks, with a mouthful of scrambled eggs in her mouth.

“No, I just I’ll turn really red.” Pidge says. Lance’s phone dings in the living room. _It’s probably mom reminding me of something._

“What is Ghost Keith?” Max reads from Lance’s phone. The entirety of last night flashes through Lance’s mind. From the Oujia board to Pidge getting hurt to the creepy pizza walk and the sticky note on the door. He hops off the stool and goes to retrieve his phone.

“It’s a game.” Lance says quickly.

“Oh.” Max nods and turns back to the TV. Lance sighs and unlocks his phone. With his siblings in the room, he’ll have to actually type. He sets his hand on the island so Hunk can read the messages. Pidge pads over to read from the other side.

<Ghost Keith 2:29> Hey. :)  
<Lance 2:30> Hi.  
<Lance 2:31> What’s up?  
<Ghost Keith 2:31> Not much. I just got up. Lmao.  
<Lance 2:32> I haven’t been up for long either.  
<Ghost Keith 2:32> I was up till like, 4. At that damn party. It was so boring. I knew two people there. :/  
<Lance 2:33> Sorry man.

“Should I… ask him about the creepy shit that happened last night?” Lance whispers. Hunk nods.

“Yeah. Please.”

<Ghost Keith 2:33> What creepy stuff?  
<Lance 2:34> Well, we ordered a pizza. And had it delivered to the end of the street, so my family wouldn’t be disturbed. And when I went to get it, there was a creepy person on the other side of the street, it was like they were following me. Like, I was actually afraid. And then when we got back, there was a weird Post-it Note on the door, with a smiley on it.  
<Ghost Keith 2:36> Well, that’s horrifying. D:  
<Ghost Keith 2:36> Oh wait, did you think it was me?  
<Lance 2:37> No, but I mean…

Keith being the creepy figure hadn’t crossed Lance’s mind at all.

<Lance 2:37> Is that something that, I dunno, a demon would do?

He shrugs and looks at his friends before sending it.

<Ghost Keith 2:38> I don’t think so. If it had been a demon, it would’ve probably approached you. Or more.  
<Lance 2:38> … that does not make me feel better.  
<Ghost Keith 2:39> Sorry. Just be careful. Maybe get a cross necklace or a ring or something like that?  
<Lance 2:39> Really, a cross?  
<Ghost Keith 2:40> I mean, I could’ve suggested watching _Supernatural._

Lance and Hunk laugh and Pidge snorts. “It used to be a great show.” she says. _Ah yes, Pidge’s Supernatural phase._

<Ghost Keith 2:41> Just FYI the salt thing is a lie.

“Lance. Can we swim now?” Max asks. Lance turns.

“You’re both done with breakfast?” he asks.

“Yep.”

“All right. You’ve got to wait for a little while though.” Lance says.

“We can wait while we put on swim clothes right?” Mari asks.

“Yeah sure.” His siblings start towards the stairs excitedly. “But! You have to wait a little longer after that. Deal?”

“Yeah!” They scurry up the steps. And Lance’s gaze returns to his phone.

<Ghost Keith 2:42> You have a pool? That’s awesome.  
<Lance 2:43> Yeah. :)  
<Ghost Keith 2:43> I can’t swim. Like, at all.

“So, you have fire powers and water’s not your thing?” Pidge says, nodding her head and reaching for a piece of bacon from the plate in front of her.

<Lance 2:44> I was on my school’s swim team back in middle school.  
<Ghost Keith 2:44> Wow.  
<Lance 2:44> It’s really easy when you get it.  
<Ghost Keith 2:44> Maybe I’ll learn sometime.  
<Lance 2:45> :) You should.  
<Ghost Keith 2:46> Well, maybe one day you could teach me.

Lance’s eyes go wide. And Pidge chokes on her bacon. _Oh my God, teach a demon to swim?_ Lance types out his reply and sends it quickly. Then he slips his phone into his pocket and turns around.

“So, what? You’re gonna flirt with a demon and hide your phone? Rude.” Pidge says.

“What? No way.” Lance says. His brother comes down the stairs at the perfect time. _Evasive maneuvers underway._ “Ready?”

“Yeah. I am. I even got sunblock.” he says, waving the bottle at Lance. “Mari’s having problems though. She doesn’t know where her bathing suit is.”

“She has half a dozen swimsuits.” Lance says. “Which one does she want?”

“I don’t know. She’s a girl after all.” Max shrugs. Pidge sucks through her teeth at the statement. Lance hears her from across the room. Lance squats down to his brother’s height and looks him in the eyes.

“Hey buddy, you don’t say stuff like that. It’s not nice of you. She just wants the one she wants. Okay?” Lance says. Max’s eyebrows scrunch up.

“Oh, okay. That’s what Gabe says though.” Max says. Max’s friend Gabe has a crappy father figure who doesn’t respect much of anything, including women. _That kid’s gonna turn out rotten as fuck._

“Well, you’re not Gabe. You care about your sister and you’re not going to act like she’s dumb for wanting a certain outfit.” Lance says. It clicks in Max’s brain and he nods.

“Oh, you’re right. I got my Spongebob pants because I like them best.” Max says, looking down at his blue trunks.

“Exactly.” Lance says, patting his brother’s shoulder. “I’m going to go help her find it. Do your sunscreen while I’m gone, alright?” Lance climbs the stairs and goes to his sister’s room.

“You okay baby?” Lance asks, stepping into the room. Mariana is sitting in the floor with five, no, actually six swimsuits laid out in front of her.

“I can’t find my Skye one.” she says, standing up. She turns towards her brother, her face drawn up in a pout.

“Didn’t you wear it last time?” Lance asks.

“Yeah, I think so.”

“It’s probably downstairs on the deck.” Lance says. “I’ll go get it if you put all those up, okay?”

“Thanks Lance.” she smiles and opens her dresser drawer. Lance goes back downstairs. _God, why are there so many steps?_ And before he can get to the deck door, Max appears holding his sister’s swimsuit.

“I found it Lance!” he beams.

“Thanks Max. Will you take it to her?” Lance asks. He nods.

“Okay.” Max hurries up the stairs towards his sister’s room. And Lance takes a seat on the couch.

“Shew.” Lance sighs.

“Thanks for that, Lance.” Pidge says softly.

“For what?” Lance asks.

“For telling Max not to talk about girls like that.” She says.

“Hey, I didn’t do it for you. I did it for him, he’s a good kid. And he needs to know when he’s out of line.” Lance smiles.

“Either way, I’m glad you told him.” Pidge says.

“Yeah me too.” Hunk says.

“Lance McClain ain’t having an uneducated brother.” Lance says, putting his feet up on the coffee table. Lance notices that Hunk’s already set to swim, but Pidge is sitting with her legs in the chair, still wearing her pajamas from the night before.

“You gonna go change? You need time for your sunblock to soak in. I know you have to use sunblock. Like a lot of it.” Lance says. She snorts.

“Not a lot. Just like, SPF two thousand.” she laughs, standing up. “I’m gonna change in your bathroom.”

“So, the whole thing from last night wasn’t a demon’s work according to Keith.” Hunk says, “That’s good at least.”

“Yeah. I’m still freaked out though. Who does that?” Lance says shuddering at the very fresh memory.

“Kind of terrifying that a demon would approach us. Or more.” Hunk says, adding air quotes around the phrase.

“Yeah, what did that even mean? I’d ask, but I’m sort of afraid to know. Ya know?” Lance says. Hunk nods.

“Maybe we _should_ get crosses? Just to be safe.” Hunk suggests.

“I dunno man. I just know that I don’t wanna get kidnapped by a murderous demon.” Lance laughs.

“Why are you laughing?” Hunk says with a look on his face. “Jeez.”

“I dunno. But if it’ll make you feel better, we could get some.” Lance says.

“It kinda would.” Hunk says. “I think my mom probably has one that I could use.”

“Same.” Lance says. He can hear his brother and sister start to come down the stairs.

“Lance, we’re almost ready.”

“Sunscreen.” Lance says, leaning forward to pick up the bottle from the coffee table and toss it to his sister. Pidge comes out of Lance’s room in a grey t-shirt and pale yellow shorts.

“I’m back.” she say. She sets her phone down on the table and Lance sees a selfie. He smiles.

“Nice selfie.”

“Yeah, I actually looked nice for once so I decided to document it.”

“You say that like you’re some kind of cryptid.” Hunk says.

“Pidge, you are beautiful.” Mariana says with adoration in her eyes. “You’re the most prettiest girl I know.” Katie’s face turns a bright scarlet. Lance smiles softly.

“Uh, thanks.” she replies.

“Okay, so the sunblock is nowhere near soaked in y’all, so have a seat while you wait.” Lance tells his siblings. They plop down on the couch next to Hunk and Lance stands up to go change into his trunks.

“Be right back.” he says. He walks towards his room, grabbing a piece of bacon from the kitchen island on the way. He munches it as he steps into his room and he pulls out some trunks from his dresser. He pulls his shirt off over his head and changes into the trunks, looking at himself in the stand mirror.

“Damn, I’m pretty.” he says, slipping his phone out of his discarded shorts. He unlocks the screen and goes to his messages.

<Lance 2:46> If my mom wouldn’t drop dead at the sight of a demon in her swimming pool, I’d love to.  
<Ghost Keith 2:47> Pfft.  
<Ghost Keith 2:47> She’d never know unless you told her.  
<Ghost Keith 3:00> Yeah, the cross thing is a good idea. Especially if you’re afraid.  
<Lance 3:08> You were listening?  
<Ghost Keith 3:09> Sure. :)  
<Lance 3:09> We’re gonna go swimming for a while. But I’ll talk to you later okay?  
<Ghost Keith 3:10> Sure.  
<Ghost Keith 3:10> Hey, what was that show you were watching?  
<Lance 3:11> Err, Jessie? It’s on Disney Channel.  
<Ghost Keith 3:12> Thanks. Lmao. I might watch that while you’re gone.  
<Lance 3:12> I mean, I can leave the TV on?  
<Ghost Keith 3:13> It’s on Netflix, don’t bother. Ttyl.  
<Lance 3:13> Bye.

Lance exits his room and heads towards the living room. “You guys almost ready?”

“Yeah, we’re ready!”

“Cool.” Lance goes to open the door to the back deck and his siblings are on his tail.

“Hey, no running out there. You could fall in the water.” He says.

“You’d save us.” Mari says.

“Yeah, I would. But I’d rather not be worried about you. And you’ll use the stairs. No jumping in.” Lance says.

“There are a lot of rules at this pool.” Hunk says.

“Damn straight.” Lance says.

“Which we aren’t.” Pidge says, elbowing him with a grin. He smiles back and goes to one of the tables on the deck. He sets his phone down and Max comes over to him.

“Lance, my float is on the front porch.” he says.

“Well go get--” Lance stops mid-sentence thinking about the events of last night. “Let’s go get it. We’ll be back guys.” he says. They go back through the house and to the front door. Lance unlocks it and pulls it open. Max grabs his float from the bench.

“Why was it out here anyway?” Lance asks.

“I don’t remember.” Max says. Lance turns and waves his hand to usher his brother into the house, just in case there are any creepy figures hiding in broad daylight.

“Aw, man.” Max says in a pouty voice.

“What’s wrong?” Lance asks.

“My picture is gone. It must’ve blowed away.”

“What picture?” Lance asks.

“I made a smiley face picture and I put it right…” he stretches up onto his toes and smacks his hand against the door, “here. It was a happy face for everyone who comes to our house.” Lance blinks a couple times, registering what his brother had said. _The note was Max’s. Oh my God. I can’t believe I overreacted like that._

“Oh, well you can always make a new one later, ‘kay?”  Max nods and heads inside. Lance sighs and shuts the door behind him, locking the deadbolt and latching the chain. Lance makes his way to the deck and watches Max push his float into the pool before taking the steps down into the water. Pidge and Hunk are both setting at the table where Lance left his phone. He raises a brow.

“Trying to snoop on my phone? How dare you?!” Lance says, feigning betrayal.

“I mean, we were gonna read the Keith conversation. What the fuck’s your password anyway?” Pidge says.

“Yeah, man. You’re locked out for a minute.” Hunk says, handing Lance his phone.

“You’d never guess my password. Not in a million years.” Lance says triumphantly.

“Well, I tried 42069 and 69420. Then I was out of ideas.” Pidge says with sigh.

“I tried your birthday.” Hunk says. Lance laughs and unlocks his phone, handing it back to his friends.

“Amateurs. Here. I have nothing to hide. Don’t send anything while I’m gone. Or I’m revoking access.” Lance says, before hopping into the pool, creating a ripple effect which knocks Max off his float. Mariana, who’s in a ring float, is safe from Lance’s mini wave. Lance watches his brother stand up in the water and laughs.

“Sorry. Ya okay buddy?” Lance asks. Max coughs.

“Yeah. How come you’re allowed to jump in?”

“Cuz I’m older than you and I know how to jump in without hurting myself.” Lance explains. Max accepts Lance’s reason.

“Mari! I’ll race you to the other side!” he says excitedly.

“Okay, but Lance has to count down.” Mari slips through the bottom of her float and joins her brother on the same side of the pool.

“Careful on the deep side, alright?” Lance says, seriously. The water on the deeper side of the pool goes over both their heads and then some.

“It’s not that deep.”

“Alright. Be careful anyway.” Lance says.

“We will.”

“Ready?” Lance asks. Both his siblings nod. “One. Two. Three!” They both take off towards the other side, Mari under the water and Max sort of dog-paddling. Lance laughs to himself. Mari reaches her hand out to smack the deck.

“I win!” she shouts. Max is only a couple seconds after her.

“Good job.” Lance smiles. “Are you weenies coming in or not?” He asks his friends.

“Yeah, we’re coming man. You wanna play ball?” Hunk asks, standing up. Pidge shrugs.

“Sure.” Hunk grabs a couple of their oversized beach balls and knocks them into the water.

“Ooh! I wanna be on Hunk’s team!” Max says.

“And I want Pidge!” Mari says.

“No one wants me?” He asks with a pout.

“No.” Lance’s mouth drops open.

“Shit.” Lance says, pulling himself out of the pool to sit on the deck, with his legs in the water. “I’ll ref then, I guess.”

“And you have to get the balls if they go out.” Mari says.

“Fine.” Lance says.

-

After a few rounds of net-less pool volleyball—where the only rule is to not drop the ball— Pidge is the first to quit playing. She climbs out of the pool complaining that she’s ‘sunburnt all to hell.’ Without a partner, Mari decides to quit as well.

“Here we go,” Lance says as he opens the door to their junk room to let Pidge inside. Their bonus room, adequately named for the piles of random junk from who knows where, connects to the house via one door on the back hall, the same hall as Lance’s room. A deep freezer, a dozen or more random boxes, a couple shelves, several outgrown bicycles, and an extra table crowd one side.

There are other things, piled around in different spots. _Hunk had to get the card table from here last night, shit._ Lance thinks, looking at the mess. The other half of the room is mostly empty, except for a clothes line with a sheet thrown over it for a pool changing room.

“Here ya go. Tell us when you’re done.” Lance says. Pidge steps into the room, raising up on her tiptoes.

“Fuck the floor is cold. Lance, can you get my duffle bag for me?” Pidge asks, grabbing a towel from the stack. Lance grabs a couple to take back to everyone outside.

“Yeah sure. I’m gonna change first though. I’ll be like two minutes.” Lance says, exiting through the door that leads inside. He crosses the hall to his room, pushing off his swim trunks to trade them for the same things he’d been wearing earlier. He grabs Pidge’s bag and drops it in front of the door, moving out of the way before she comes to get it.

“Here’s your crap!”

“Thanks, Lance!” He hears her shout from the other end of the room. Once he gets back to the deck, his brother and sister are back in the pool. Hunk’s sitting on the edge, not far from where Lance had been minutes earlier.

“Guys, I thought you were tired of the pool?” Lance says. Hunk shrugs.

“We were, but now we’re not.” Max says.

“Well, you either have to get out or put on more sunblock.” Lance says. His siblings groan and start to swim towards the stair-steps. _That’s what I thought._ Hunk gives him a thumbs up and he smiles to himself before tossing each of them a towel.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment if you enjoyed this chapter! It means a lot to me! <3
> 
> My tumblr is [@koganelovesmcclain](http://koganelovesmcclain.tumblr.com/). Feel free to follow me over there! Please. ~(*﹏*)~
> 
> [DIHWYFFH Worldbuilding!](http://koganelovesmcclain.tumblr.com/post/173207098408/dihwyffh-worldbuilding)  
> If you ever have any questions about the DIH universe, let me know and I'll add to this tag!  
>  
> 
> Also! Tell me what you think Keith looks like! I'd love to hear theories about his appearance! Send your ideas to me in an ask, [right here](http://koganelovesmcclain.tumblr.com/ask)!  
>  
> 
> Until next time! <3 Stay tuned!


	5. Can You Hear Me Now?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The next week of Lance's life is a mixture of human and demon interaction, mostly human. He and Keith text daily and are becoming friends. Is Lance ready to _see_ Keith, face to face?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I'm back! Sorry it's been,,, two months or something? (Which honestly isn't that long. For me anyway.) But I have several other projects in the works, so... hopefully that'll make up for it a little! <3  
> I hope you enjoy this chapter! ;)

For the next week, Lance takes turns spending time with his family and his friends. And Keith, who in his own category. After all, how do you categorize a friendly demon with a cellphone?

Today, he spent with his family. They’d all gone to the biggest water park in the state. He’s loved going ever since he was a kid. Their pool is great and all, but it doesn’t compare to all the different play areas at the park.

He’d spent half the time watching over his siblings while his parents did their own thing. Of course, Lance didn’t mind keeping an eye on them. Everything was going well, until Mari somehow got a scrape on her forehead going down the water slide. Lance had had to go ask the woman at the food court if he could have some bandages. Luckily, she didn’t charge him, as he’d only had swim trunks and no money.

And his mom had freaked out a little bit. ‘What kind of dangerous place is this?’ she’d asked when they’d returned to their parents. Lance shrugged and she had doctored her daughter’s head. Mari didn’t even cry, just got annoyed that the Band-Aid she’d been given had no cartoon characters on it.

But now, he’s home and is getting ready for bed. It’s true what they say, water wears you out. He’s been working on his beauty routine on and off for about forty five minutes. That much chlorine isn’t great for skin. Lance’s phone chirps on the bathroom counter. He finishes washing his face and goes to answer it. It’s Keith. Lance smiles.

<Keith 11:14> Hey, what’s up?  
<Lance 11:16> Not much. I just washed my face. :)  
<Keith 11:16> Mmhm. I saw.  
<Lance 11:17> What do you mean?  
<Lance 11:17> Are you… here?  
<Keith 11:17> Yes.  
<Lance 11:17> Where?  
<Keith 11:18> Sitting on your bed.

Lance peers into his room. Nothing’s out of place. It’s a total wreck, as always. But there’s no sign of a demon anywhere. Lance clears his throat.

“So, you can still hear me too?” Lance whispers. He flicks off the bathroom light and steps into his room, stopping just short of the bed. He doesn’t want to sit on Keith. _Or do I?_ Lance shakes his head. _Fucking stop, self._

<Keith 11:19> Of course. It’s just like always.

Lance had known that Keith could hear him and his friends, but he hadn’t realized that he could see them. Suddenly, he thinks of the stupid things he’s constantly doing— making faces in the mirror, taking ugly Snapchat selfies— and hopes that Keith hadn’t seen those.

<Keith 11:19> I like your pajamas.

Lance looks down at himself. He’s wearing a tank top and boxers. His face turns red. _Oh my God._

“Don’t look at me. I’m practically naked.” Lance says, quietly.

<Keith 11:20> Oh, sorry.  
<Keith 11:20> You have pretty legs, Lance.

“That’s,” Lance pauses, taking in the compliment, “thank you. But that’s kind of creepy. You’re just watching me?”

<Keith 11:21> Sort of. Sorry. I hadn’t heard much from you all day and I wanted to come hang out.

“This really isn’t hanging out, Keith. You’re not even really here. Are you? I seriously can’t see you. At all.” Lance says, eyes flicking from his phone to his bed.

<Keith 11:21> I know. :( If I had my circle, this wouldn’t be a problem. But I can’t exactly find it.

“What circle?” Lance asks.

<Keith 11:20> Hmmm. How to explain. You’ve heard of these? Right?  
<Keith 11:20> _[Image Received]_

 _Keith can send photos._ Lance is amazed that he hadn’t thought of it. _I want a selfie, Keith. A selfie._ He opens the image. It’s a… pentagram. A very intricate, detailed pentagram.

“Pentagrams.” Lance says plainly, nodding slightly to answer the question.

<Keith 11:21> We call them summon circles, but I guess.  
<Keith 11:22> Anyways, I can’t really go to Earth without it. I mean, without a lot of grief from officials. It’s kind of like a passport?? Or an ID?

“But you said you were here.” Lance says, puzzled.

<Keith 11:21> I am, in a sense. You never closed the Ouija board, Lance.

“Oh shit, I need to do that then.” Lance says, kneeling down to reach under the bed and pull out the box. His phone lights up and he pauses to look at it.

<Keith 11:22> If you do, I’ll be sent out of here. I’m not sure if I’ll even be able to text you without it.

“Oh. Then, I’ll leave it.” Lance pauses. “Explain how you’re here and not here at the same time. I’m confused.” he says.

<Keith 11:22> Okay. I’ll try my best.  
<Keith 11:22> This spirit board is able to make a… let’s call it a portal. Between your dimension and mine.  
<Keith 11:22> It’s sort of like a radio. We’re on different wavelengths. But, you know how sometimes if you tune a radio just right, you can hear two different stations at the same time?

Lance nods, “Yeah.”

<Keith 11:22> That’s pretty much me right now. I’m here and I’m not here. My soul, my abstract form, is here and it can travel through the board.

Lance reads the texts. And then rereads them, piecing it all together.

“So, to get all of you here, I’d have to… summon you? With, like, blood or something?” Lance asks.

<Keith 11:23> …pretty much.

“Yikes.” Lance says, pushing the board back under his bed. “So, that first night, you were like this, too?”

<Keith 11:23> Yep.

Lance nods to himself. _Of course, that’s how he was able to write._ “Hey, Keith. Nothing else can come through there. Right?” Lance asks.

<Keith 11:23> Nah. Not so long as I’m using it. They’re only strong enough for a few at a time. And I’m what you might call a ‘high level’ demon.  
<Keith 11:24> I’m as much as it can handle. So… you should be good.  
<Keith 11:25> Lemme know if something happens though.

“Like what?” Lance asks, swallowing thickly.

<Keith 11:25> If you start seeing blurry shadows following you. Or you start having really bad luck. Anything abnormal.

“Geez.” Lance stands up from the floor. “Which side are you sitting on?”

<Keith 11:26> Towards the foot of the bed.

Lance pulls his blanket back and climbs into bed. He isn’t tired, but he’s got to sit somewhere. He’s not cold either, but he pulls the blanket back over his legs to keep them from Keith’s view. He’s suddenly a lot more self-conscious than he should be in a seemingly empty room.

<Keith 11:26> Do you need me to leave?

“You can stay.” Lance tugs at his blanket, which refuses to give. “Are you sitting on the covers?” He yanks them again and almost punches himself in the face. He looks at his phone.

<Keith 11:27> Sorry! I stood up so you could get them. D:

“It’s alright.” Lance says, then he yawns. “So, you’re invisible. But you’re somehow heavy enough to hold my blanket down?” he asks.

<Keith 11:28> I’m not invisible.  
<Keith 11:28> Well, I am to you.  
<Keith 11:28> …But there’s a way I can make you see me.

Lance scrunches his brows, watching the dots on his screen move.

“You can… let me see you?” Lance asks softly, heart in his throat.

<Keith 11:29> Yes. Only if you let me.

“Oh.” Lance stiffens.

<Keith 11:29> What is it?

Lance wants to see him. He likes to think that they’d be pretty good friends if Keith weren’t just an ever changing enigma. But maybe he shouldn’t. It could ruin his image of the other boy. Literally. Lance has no idea what the other looks like, but he certainly has his ideas.

“Just… are you scary?” Lance asks nervously.

<Keith 11:30> I don’t look like your Hollywood demons. If that’s what you mean.

“Oh. Okay.” Lance says, letting a sighs of relief roll out of him. That’s one less thing to worry about.

<Keith 11:30> Do you want to see me? I’m only going to ask once.

Lance’s mind starts flying. This is the only time he’ll get to see the boy he’s been talking to for over a week. Who he has somehow developed a crush on despite never seeing him. Or hearing his voice.

“I do. I really do. But we have to be really quiet. My family is sleeping.” Lance whispers.

<Keith 11:31> We’ll be so quiet no one will ever know I was here.

“Okay, how do we do it?” Lance asks.

<Keith 11:32> Go to your bathroom. Turn off the lights and say my name three times. And I’ll appear in the mirror.

Lance’s eyes widen, “Seriously?”

<Keith 11:31> No.  
<Keith 11:31> Haha. Okay. Sorry.  
<Keith 11:32> Concentrate on nothing. And close your eyes.

Lance does as he’s told. Nothing. Nada. His phone chirps and he opens his eyes to read it.

<Keith 11:34> Are you concentrating?

“Yeah. What now?” Lance asks.

<Keith 11:34> Just keep doing that. And I should appear to you.

Lance closes his eyes again. And he sits there for several minutes. He’s starting to think Keith was lying. “So, when I open my eyes, I’ll be able to see you?” Lance asks, struggling to keep his eyes closed. Then, he realizes that in order to read the answer, he’ll have to open them. So he does.

<Keith 11: 35> Um, no. You’ll only be able to see me when your eyes are closed.

“That’s stupid. How long does it take anyway?”

<Keith 11:35> As long as it takes for your mind to see through your world’s barrier against mine.

“So… I’ll just have to sit here with my eyes closed for that long? And I still won’t be able to see you?” Lance sighs.

<Keith 11:36> Give me a second. I’ll ask my brother if he knows another way.

“Alright.” Lance replies. He sits there for a moment, wondering what other way there could be. He doesn’t know anything about demons, or magic. He would try to look it up, but he wouldn’t know what to look for. His phone sounds.

<Keith 11:39> Um, I’m back.

“Oh cool. Did you find out?” Lance asks softly.

<Keith 11:40> Yeah, there’s another way. But I don’t know if you’d want to try it.

Lance scrunches his eyebrows, “What is it?”

<Keith 11:40> First off, Shiro says that if I touch you, you should be able to feel it.

“Okay. Um, so try it.” Lance says. Out of nowhere, he feels something tap against his toe behind the blanket. He jerks his foot back.

“Was that you?”

<Keith 11:41> Yes. You felt it?

“Yes. Barely.” Lance says. A few seconds later, a more prominent hand rests against his leg.

<Keith 11:41> That’s me.

“It’s so weird. Not being able to see you.” Lance says.

<Keith 11:42> Back to that. Shiro said that there’s one way that is known to work. And you’d be able to actually see me with open eyes.  
<Keith 11:42> But he said we might have to do it every time I come.

“Keith, as long as it’s not like… Cutting off my fingers, I don’t care. I’ll do it. I really want to see you. Come on.” Lance whines.

<Keith 11:43> Okay. Close your eyes.

Lance closes them again and feels his bed start to shift, as if someone were moving. He feels something touch his upper thigh. _What the fuck?_ Something else touches his face. He starts to open his eyes, but doesn’t. Before he has time to, something is pressed against his lips.

Another pair of lips.

They’re chapped and in serious need of lip balm, but they’re lips. _Keith is kissing me._ Lance’s eyes open and in front of him, sitting on his knees, is a boy. A gorgeous, black haired boy who has his eyes closed and his lips pressed against Lance’s own. He pulls away with a shaky breath, noticing Lance looking into his eyes. And he smiles.

His mouth moves. Lance doesn’t hear anything, his heart’s beating too loudly.

“What?” Lance asks. The boy clears his throat.

“I said: can you hear me now?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOO! He's visible!!! What's gonna happen next?? (Who knows? Lol.)  
> If you enjoyed this chapter, please leave me a comment and let me know! Comments really help me feel motivated! And I need to know that you like what I'm putting out. Thanks y'all.
> 
> Don't forget to [reblog this post ](http://koganelovesmcclain.tumblr.com/post/174761319318/did-it-hurt-when-you-fell-from-hell-chapter) to help get the word out about this fic!  
> And you can follow me on Tumblr [@koganelovesmcclain!](http://www.koganelovesmcclain.tumblr.com)


	6. Face to Face

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The demon Lance has been chatting with for the last week materializes for the first time. They talk for hours. Lance learns, among other things, that his crush is perfectly justified.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I'm back! I hope you like this update! I really do. <3  
> Thank you for reading!  
> Enjoy!
> 
>  
> 
> N/a: there is some like, talk of Christianity in this chapter. I don't really know how to phrase this, but basically the origin of hell is brought up and it's not accurate. It's changed for the fic. I don't want to offend anyone and I really don't think that it would because it's like one paragraph out of 3500 words, but I just wanted to warn you, just in case.

Lance nods. He _can_ hear him. Keith scrambles to move off of Lance’s lap and Lance laughs softly. He plops himself backwards toward the foot of the bed, where he’d apparently been a few moments earlier. As Lance takes in his appearance— a small but solid build, pale skin, and shoulder-length raven hair framing two seemingly _purple_ eyes, the blush on his cheeks— he realizes just how wrong his friends had been about demons.

If Lance hadn’t known better, that is to say if Keith hadn’t just magically appeared, Lance would swear he was the average, everyday human guy. Sitting on Lance’s bed, with his hands in his lap and staring at the bedspread.

“So,” Keith starts, snapping Lance out of whatever trance he’d been in, “this is awkward, right?”

“Uh, yeah, a little.” Lance answers softly, forcing himself to look away. Through text, Keith seems so confident and even a little cocky. But here, in the flesh, he’s sort of nervous. “You, uh, look different than I thought.” Lance admits. Keith looks up from his lap.

“I do?” he asks. “How did you expect me to look?” Lance shrugs slightly.

“I don’t know. I just… Pidge said you probably had weird scaly skin. And Hunk, he said something about horns.” Lance mumbles. “And I didn’t think you’d be this pretty,” he adds in a whisper that Keith doesn’t hear.

“Scales?” Keith asks, lifting his arm to inspect himself.

“Pidge is crazy. Literally just ignore her.” Lance says quickly, waving his arm.

“Oh. Okay. Hunk’s right though. A lot of us have horns and things.” Keith says, putting his arm back down.

“Do you?” Lance asks.

“Oh, yes. I have a few.”

“A few?” Lance says, inspecting Keith’s horn-free head, “where?” Keith raises a brow and a hand to his head, patting his hair.

“Oh, I guess this, ahem, method didn’t translate my full form. Huh.” Keith says.

“This is the human form then?” Lance says. _That makes sense._

“Oh yeah, definitely.” Keith says.

“What do you really look like then? When you’re at home?” Lance asks.

“Well, uh, my hair’s a little longer I think. And I have my horns, six of them.” Keith says. Lance’s eyes widen and he cuts Keith off with a question.

“Six? I thought it was two.”

“Oh, no. I mean, some of us have less. There are usually from one to six. And some people don’t have any.”

“Why do you have so many then?” Lance asks.

“It’s sort of like…” Keith pauses, trying to find a way to explain. “You can think of it as a species thing.”

 “Are they like ram horns? Like curly?” Lance points his index fingers at either side of his head and makes a curly loop. “Or like, sticky up ones?” He points his index fingers straight up.

“Sticky up.” Keith says.

“Cool. I mean, I didn’t think you could really fit six curly ones on your head but…” Lance shrugs.

“Some people probably do.” Keith answers. “There are lots of types of horns.”

“Like what kinds?” Lance asks.

“I mean, some people’s stick straight up. Mine, they’re up but slightly curved. Others have ‘ram horns’ or corkscrew-looking ones. And some are just crazy looking.” Keith says. Lance tries to imagine, but he can’t. Keith looks so fluffy and soft. Adding horns to him, even in his imagination, seems wrong.

“This probably sounds creepy, but can I write some of this stuff down?” Lance asks. Keith raises a brow.

“Why? Are you planning to write a report?”

“Well, Pidge and Hunk would think this is cool. And I think it’s really interesting. I’d like to know all about it.” Lance says sheepishly. He realizes how weird this is, but he doesn’t really care. His friends _would_ find it fascinating.

“Oh, sure then. As long as you aren’t going to like… publish it or something. That would be bad. But, I can teach you all kinds of stuff you don’t know.” Keith smiles. Lance doesn’t know whether Keith is flirting or not, he clears his throat and continues. “I can answer any questions you can think of. You’ll have a guidebook.” Keith laughs.

“Hold on, let me get something to write in. Think of demon-y things. Uh, please.” Lance says.

“Sure.” Keith says. Lance stands up and goes over to his closet. He knows there’s a couple notebooks in there, in a box on the top shelf. He reaches up and pulls the box down. The first notebook he picks up is a composition book from Chemistry with notes scribbled all over it. He puts it back and pulls out another one. Sleek, bound in faux black leather. A really, really nice notebook.

“Oh yeah.” Lance says, he flips it open. _Abuela gave me this a couple years ago._ She’d bought it thinking that it was a journal, but when Lance unwrapped it from the plastic, it had unlined pages. As much as Lance liked to doodle, he didn’t want to waste this book on them. He’d been saving it for something good. _This is just about as good as it gets._ He lifts the box back up on the shelf and takes the book to the bed with him, he opens it and pulls a pen out of his nightstand drawer.

He presses the tip to the paper, but can’t make himself write. The page is so pretty and clean. “What’re you waiting for?” Keith asks.

“Ugh, it’s a new notebook.” Lance says, sighing. He sets the pen in the book carefully.

“Oh.”

“Like, it’s been blank for like, two years.” Lance says.

“You want me to ruin it so we can start your little interview?” Keith asks.

“Sure.” Lance says. Keith picks up the book and raises the pen. Lance closes his eyes, expecting Keith to scribble on the front page or something.

“Here.” Keith says, poking Lance in the side. Lance opens his eyes and finds that Keith has written, in gorgeous calligraphy, the word **_Demonology_**.

“In all fairness, it’s kind of a fake word, but…” Keith starts.

“Woah.” Lance says, looking at the words.

“Is that okay?” Keith asks with a tilt of his head. Lance looks over at him.

“How did you? This is so pretty.” Lance says in awe.

“I dunno.” Keith shrugs.

Lance accepts his answer and picks up his phone before skipping a couple pages. “So, you’re okay with me asking five million questions?”

“Yeah. It’s fine. What’s that for?” Keith asks.

“I mean, this might get long. And I might need to put in a table of contents? I don’t know.” Lance says, sitting his phone down on his leg.

“I meant the phone?”

“Oh, I thought maybe I could record it in case I forget something.” Lance says. Keith nods. Lance presses the record button and his mind instantly goes blank.

“I don’t know where to start.” Lance says. There’s got to be so much to write down. _Species, powers, horn types?_

“I mean, if you’re going for a book, we could start with the history of Hell, if you want?” Keith asks. Lance blinks.

“Um, I thought it was just the whole Satan got cast out thing.” Lance says.

“Pfft.” Keith laughs. “That’s the human version of how we got our start. It’s a little more than that.” Keith continues: “So, it started a long time ago, when literally everyone went to Heaven. That was just what happened. It was how it worked. Then, when people started doing bad things, things that would get them excluded from Paradise, God needed a place for them. So, he asked Satan, one of his dearest friends, to be the ‘god’ of this new place.”

“What? Really?” Lance asks.

“Yeah. Satan accepted and moved out, taking him and some of his own angels to Hell. Then, when people died, they’d get judged based on their lives. I guess you know that part though.” Keith says. Lance nods.

“And anyways, it’s like there are two Hells. One is for the ‘fallen’ angels that Satan brought with him and all their offspring. AKA, me. And the other is for humans gone bad. We’re barely even connected. Those who aren’t born demons aren’t allowed to leave either. I mean, sometimes it happens by accident, but there are people to get them back. Anyway, sometimes a person can try to ‘correct’ their previous life and ask for an appeal for a chance to get into Heaven.”

“Wow.” Lance says. “I had no idea. I thought that Heaven and Hell were sort of against each other.”

“Not really, Heaven is sort of a VIP place. And some angels are snobs, like I mean, just like people. Most of Hell is pretty nice, unless you get sent to one of the lower rings, that’s where the phrase Hellfire comes from.” Keith says, looking off to the side.

“Oh jeez.” Lance says, “Give me a minute to write all this down.” Lance leaves a bit of room at the top of the page for a title and starts writing. When he finishes, he looks back at Keith, “Will you make the title?” Keith takes the book and reads Lance’s summary before adding **The Beginning: Hell’s Creation** to the top. He hands the book back and he starts to tell Lance even more about the start of Hell. Lance hangs on every word and he’s not sure if it’s really interesting, or if Keith’s voice makes it so.

\--

They get to a new section by midnight. **Demons.** Keith writes the title of this new ‘chapter’ and gives it a subheading of **Appearance** and Lance takes the book back. Keith tells him about how most Hell-born demons have more than one form— their demon and human form— so they can blend in on Earth. And Lance writes, nodding along.

“So you can have horns and wings?” Lance says. “What other weird things are there? Uh, no offense.” Keith smiles.

“Demons can have horns, wings, tails, body markings, claws. Sometimes scales or hooves. And while one person may have more than one, it’s rare for one to have them all.” Keith says, as if he’d been repeating a phrase from a textbook. Well, he might be, Lance doesn’t know what schoolchildren learn in Hell. Lance writes down it down exactly as Keith says it.

“Do you have wings?” Lance asks, eyes gleaming. Having wings, being able to fly sounds incredible.

“Uh, no.” Keith says.

“Oh.” Lance says.

“I’m sorry to let you down,” Keith replies. “Maybe I can get one of my friends to fly you around sometime.”

“Nah. That’d be weird.”

“True. So what do you want to write about now?” Keith asks, fiddling with a strand of hair.

“Horns?”

“Ooh, okay. Horns are cool. You can tell a lot about a demon just by looking at their horns.” Keith says.

“Huh.” Lance braces his hand to start writing.

“So, they are ones like mine. And what you were calling ram horns.” Keith says, counting on his fingers.

He goes on to describe several other horn variations that are common, Lance hangs on to every word, because the concept is just so foreign to him. He can’t wrap his hornless head around the idea.

“Keith, I don’t really get how to describe the horns.” Lance says, tapping his pen against the paper.

“Hmm. I could draw them for you?” Keith replies.

“Okay.” Lance hands over the book. Keith flips to the next set of pages so that he has more room and begins to sketch several little heads. Then he goes back and adds horns to each one, writing a little bit under each drawing and explaining as he goes.

“They have different names?” Lance asks, reading _dexre_ from under one drawing. The description Keith has written under it reads: each horn is twisted, generally these people are master conjurers.

“Yep.” Keith says.

“What’s a conjurer?”

“Think of a witch.” Keith says. Lance nods and reads the description for the next set of horns— _juire_ — ‘ram horns,’ hotheaded, but are genuinely sweet.

“Huh.” Lance watches him fill out names and brief about section under every set of horns, except for the kind he has. _Roare._

“Why aren’t you detailing your kind?” Lance asks.

“You can figure out what mine mean on your own.” Keith says, smiling.

“Oh.” Lance says. They keep talking, and writing, and before long Lance has a book full of random information about demons. And Lance is ready to put it down, and talk about themselves for a while. He closes the book and sits it down. Then, turns off his phone’s recorder.

“Are we done?” Keith asks.

“No,” Lance yawns, “this is really cool, but I wanna know you. We’re friends, right? We should know more about each other.” Lance says. “Like actual stuff.”

“Like?” Keith asks.

“Um, favorite movies, birthdays, hobbies, stuff like that.” Lance says. He doesn’t really have a set favorite movie. It changes, a lot. But it’s one of the standard get to know someone questions. Keith thinks for a second.

“Weekend at Bernie’s. October twenty-third. I like archery, collecting knives, and drawing.” Keith says all at once, as if he’d been filling in a questionnaire. Lance is taken aback. _Has he ever met a person?_

“Freaky Friday, because I saw it again the other day. July twenty-eighth. I like video games and swimming.” Lance says, just as robotically as Keith had.

“Sorry. I’m not good at this. This is why I only have like two friends.” Keith sighs, putting his head in his hands. “It was easier when I was telling you about my culture. I mean, I know all of it by heart.”

“It’s fine.” Lance says. “Just tell me what your favorite movie’s about.”

“You haven’t seen Weekend at Bernie’s?” Keith says, shocked. Lance shakes his head.

“I think I’ve heard of it?”

“Okay, we _have_ to watch it sometime. But, basically these two guys end up carrying a dead guy around for an entire weekend, so an armed assassin won’t get them.”

“I’m sorry, what?” Lance asks, brows raised.

“And there’s this forced hetero-romance on the side, but if you ignore that it’s a great movie.” Keith says. Lance pockets the comment about ‘hetero-romance,’ to come back to that later.

“No, I mean. They carry around a dead guy?”

“They have to make it look like he’s their friend. Sort of.” Keith says. “It’s funny, I swear.”

“It sounds wild.” Lance laughs.

“It’s from the eighties.” Keith explains.

“Ah, makes sense.” Lance says. “You collect knives?”

“Yeah. I have… I think thirty eight. Forty if you include swords.” Keith says. Lance’s eyes widen.

“Why not? They’re just big ol’ knives.” Lance laughs.

“That’s true. Do you wanna see one?”

“Sure.” Lance answers. Keith moves to pull something out of his pocket. A sleek black handled pocket knife.

“That’s cool,” Lance starts, because what do you say about knives, but then Keith flicks it open and reveals the blade: it’s rainbow. _Holy shit._ “What the fuck?” Lance says. Keith smiles.

“Right? This is one of my favorites.” Keith says. He tilts it so that the light from Lance’s lamp bounces off the different colors.

“Woah. Can I hold it?” Lance asks.

“Yeah, uh, carefully. Really sharp.” Keith says. He hands the knife to Lance by the handle. Lance takes it and mimics how Keith had moved it, watching the colors change.

“You know? This is the first time I’ve ever held a pocket knife?” Lance says.

“Never would have guessed.” Keith chuckles.

“Oh, shut up. This is so cool.” Lance says.

“Be careful.” Keith says, as Lance starts to touch the top edge of the blade.

“I’m not an idiot.”

“You don’t have to be an idiot to cut yourself, Lance.” Keith says. Lance’s phone goes off, he jerks at the noise and drops the knife. “Shit.”

“Let me just take this back.” Keith says, slipping the knife out of Lance’s lap.

“Sorry.” Lance says sheepishly. He leans over to check the notification. “Damn it. I was being careful until Pidge disturbed me.”

“I know, I just don’t want you to hurt yourself.” Keith goes to close up the knife and there’s a drop of red on the blade. “Too late, huh?” Keith says, eyeing Lance’s closed hand.

“Huh? Nah, I’m fine man.” Lance says.

“Let me see then.” Keith says. Lance stills, looking into Keith’s eyes. He sighs and holds out his hand. Near the bottom of his thumb, there’s an inch long gash on his palm.

“Here.” Keith takes Lance’s hand in his own. With such soft skin, how could the knife resist? “Can I fix it?” he asks.

“Like, with magic?”

“Yeah.” Keith says.

“Sure.” Lance answers, watching Keith like a hawk. Keith raises his other hand to his mouth and licks his thumb. Then, he places it just over the cut, dragging it down slowly. When he removes his hand, the mark is gone.

“Huh.” Lance says, looking at his now perfect hand. “That’s not what I was expecting.” He closes and opens his hand a couple times. _It doesn’t even hurt._

“Well, there’s a much longer, more annoying way, but this is one of my gifts, so…” Keith says. “Sorry you hurt yourself.”

“Hey, it’s fine, you fixed it after all.” Lance says. “So, you have magic spit.”

“Pretty much.”

“Cool.” Lance says, he leans back against his headboard.

“Yeah,” Keith says, leaning back the same way, “tell me about your favorite movie.”

“I thought everyone has seen Freaky Friday.” Lance says.

“I have, but that doesn’t mean I can’t listen to you talk about it.” Keith answers. Lance smiles and starts talking. And they continue discussing their favorite things.

\--

At around two, when Lance starts to nod off, Keith decides to leave. “I’m gonna go, okay?” he says softly, touching Lance’s shoulder.

“Huh? No, it’s fine, I’m awake.” Lance says, yawning.

“Yeah, you need to go to sleep.” Keith says, scooting to the edge of the bed. He stands up, “I’ll talk to you later.”

“Alright.” Lance says, blinking. Keith sort of waves before disappearing altogether. Lance shivers, then picks up his phone.

<Lance 2:13> I sooo hated that.  
<Keith 2:14> The disappearing? Sorry. D: I wasn’t thinking.  
<Lance 2:14> Literally, please never do that again.  
<Keith 2:14> I promise I won’t. Go to sleep.  
<Lance 2:15> Alright. Night.  
<Keith 2:15> Goodnight.

Lance rolls over and checks the message from Pidge.

<Pidge 1:43> Hey, anything going on tomorrow?  
<Lance 2:17> Not that I know of?  
<Pidge 2:17> My house. Noon.

Lance sighs. He hates when Pidge sends messages like this.

<Lance 2:18> What’s at noon?  
<Pidge 2:18> Nothing, but I might be awake by then.  
<Hunk 2:19> It’s two in the morning. What the hell guys?

Lance laughs. Poor Hunk. Lance thinks about whether he’s going to tell them about Keith. _Not yet._ He decides.

<Pidge 2:19> I wanna kick your asses at video games.  
<Hunk 2:20> I’m going back to sleep.  
<Lance 2:21> I’ll be there. If I don’t sleep too late.  
<Pidge 2:21> Set an alarm???  
<Lance 2:22> Foolish mortal, those have no power over me.  
<Pidge 2:23> Pfft. Just show up man.  
<Lance 2:23> Alright.  
<Hunk 2:23> Guys. Please.  
<Pidge 2:23> Say you’ll come and I’ll leave you alone.  
<Hunk 2:24> I’ll come.  
<Pidge 2:24> Cool. Someone bring food or you’re stuck with boring white people leftovers.  
<Lance 2:24> Poison.  
<Hunk 2:24> :’)  
<Pidge 2:25> Last time you ate here, you acted like it was the worst thing ever.  
<Lance 2:25> …the chicken was so dry.  
<Hunk 2:25> Honey, there was no seasoning on that chicken.  
<Hunk 2:25> Salt and pepper do not count.

Lance laughs. _Oh the chicken_. In a word, it was bland. In two: fucking awful.

<Pidge 2:25> Okay, you got me. It was bad.  
<Hunk 2:26> Yes. Yes it was.  
<Lance 2:26> I can get food? What do you heathens want? Junk food?  
<Pidge 2:26> I dunno, run by the dollar store and get random shit I guess.  
<Lance 2:26> Random shit. Aight. Hunk?  
<Hunk 2:27> I’ll get some actual decent food, just in case.  
<Lance 2:28> Hell yeah.  
<Pidge 2:28> I have a box of brownie mix? But no eggs. And like, maybe a half a bottle of expired vegetable oil?  
<Lance 2:28> Kay. I’ll get that shit.  
<Pidge 2:28> Goodnight.  
<Hunk 2:29> Goodnight.  
<Lance 2:29> Bye.

Lance plugs in his phone and turns out the light. _Pidge’s tomorrow. I hope I wake up in time._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :) Thank you for reading! Please leave a comment if you enjoyed this installment!
> 
> PS: My tumblr is still [@koganelovesmcclain](http://koganelovesmcclain.tumblr.com/), if you would like to follow me there!
> 
> Also, I would really appreciate if you would [reblog this post](http://koganelovesmcclain.tumblr.com/post/177540330013/did-it-hurt-when-you-fell-from-hell-chapter) to help spread the word about this fic.
> 
> PSA: If anyone ever wants to create art work for this fic, you are more than welcome to! Just be sure to tag me in it on tumblr, or pm it to me there so I can see it! <3 (A few people had asked before and I thought I'd let you guys know my stance on it!)


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